Serenity - Torchwood style
by Awatere11
Summary: So...time for another movie rewrite and I can't hold it back any more...I HAD to do Serenity. The Firefly class vessel "Torchwood" and her crew seeking the serenity of space blah blah. No smut but there will be violence, oh yes!
1. Chapter 1

**1**

It's a group of teens serious and well dressed. Aged from twelve to roughly eighteen. They sit on their heels under a sparsely elegant tent, small wooden desks with embedded screens in front of them. The tent is on a lawn surrounded by lush foliage. People walk about and vehicles glide quietly overhead.

A utopian scene.

A classroom under the open tent, a breeze ruffling hair as the children sit, watching their teacher as she takes the class.

"Now that the war's over, our soldiers get to come home, yes?" a girl asks her teacher who is walking amongst them calmly.

"Some of them. Some will be stationed on the rim planets as Peace Enforcers." Ms Hartman tells them softly.

"I don't understand." A boy says, "Why were the Independents even fighting us? Why wouldn't they look to be more civilized?"

"That's a good question. Does anybody want to open on that?" she asks the class.

"I hear they're cannibals." A girl says quietly.

"That's only Cybermen." A boy answers with a sneer, "And they don't eat, just assimilate."

"Cybermen aren't real." A voice calls out.

"We know full well what they are. They attack settlers from space, they kill them and wear their skins and rape them for hours and hours –" another boy says gleefully and Hartman holds up a hand for silence.

"It's true that there are... dangers on the outer planets. So let's follow up on Borodin's question. With all the social and medical advancements we can bring to the Independents, why would they fight so hard against us?" she asks the class and they all look around in silent confusion at the question.

"We meddle." Ianto says quietly.

"Ianto?" Hartman turns with surprise to focus on the quietest class member.

Ianto is a dark, intense young man, writing with one hand and "typing" with the other. (Typing consists of holding a long wooden stylus and tapping either end down different columns of characters on a desktop screen.) He is a good two years younger than the other kids.

"People don't like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think, don't run don't walk we're in their homes and in their heads and we haven't the right." Ianto says quietly with a solemn quality to his words "We're meddlesome."

Hartman gently takes the stylus from Ianto's fingers as she kneels to smile softly as him, "Ianto, we're not telling people what to think. We're just trying to show them how."

She violently plunges the stylus into the boy's forehead

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

A 24 year old Ianto is sitting in a metal chair, needles stuck in his skull (one right where the Ms Hartman had stuck him) being adjusted by a technician. A second monitors his brain patterns.

The lab is cold, blue, steel. Insidiously clean.

"He's dreaming.

"Nightmare?" another asks disinterestedly.

"Off the charts. Scary monsters."

 **"** Amp it up. Delcium, eight-drop." Tanzanaki demands. He is not instantly likable - nor gradually, for that matter. A cold man and more than a little satisfied with himself.

Behind him stands a Government Inspector, observing and making him a little nervous. The Inspector is in shadow, but his uniform indicates no substantial rank, nor does the eagle-crested baton longer than a ruler that he clutches in one gloved hand.

"See, most of our best work is done when they're asleep. We can monitor and direct their subconscious, implant suggestions..." Tanzanaki is explaining his methods when Ianto starts convulsing, mewing in misery. The Inspector starts forward, slowly. Tanzanaki continues to speak as if nothing is happening "It's a little startling to see, but the results are spectacular.

Especially in this case. Ianto Jones is our star pupil."

The Inspector steps into the light. He is rigid, cold, staring at the man in the metal restraints with no emotion at all. His name, as we will very soon learn, is Owen and he speaks softly "I've heard that."

"He's a genius. His mental capacity is extraordinary, even with the side-effects." Tanzanaki gushed.

"Tell me about them."

"Well, obviously, he's unstable...the neural stripping gives them heightened cognitive reception, but it also destabilizes their own reality matrix. It manifests as borderline schizophrenia... which at this point is the price for being truly psychic." He gushes.

"What use do we have for a psychic if he's insane?" Owen asks with interest.

"I don't have to tell you the security potential of someone who reads minds. And he has lucid periods - we hope to improve upon the... I'm sorry, Sir, I have to ask if there's some reason for this inspection?"

"Am I making you nervous?" Owen asks as he turns to eyeball the man squirming in front of him.

"Key members of Parliament have personally observed this subject. I was told their support for the project was unanimous. The demonstration of his power…" Tanzanaki flusters about.

"How is he physically?"

"Like nothing we've seen. All our subjects are conditioned for combat, but Ianto... he's a creature of extraordinary grace." Tanzanaki sighs.

"Yes. He always did love to dance." He drops to one knee, slamming his baton to the floor. As the top pops off like a bouncing betty (the grenade), flying up over Owen and Ianto's heads and then bursting forth in a flat circle of blue energy that bisects the room, flowing through the staff's heads and knocking them out.

Owen rushes to Ianto, gently removes the probes from his head and swabs him, whispering "Ianto. Wake up. Please, it's Owen. Ianto. It's your brother. Wake up..."

Ianto begins to stir as a noise moves Owen to the door, looking out and removing his uniform to reveal an orderly's tunic beneath.

Ianto is suddenly next to him. He jumps a little.

"Owen." Ianto says in a dry tone.

A beat, as they face each other, Owen fighting emotion.

"They know you've come." Ianto points out with a cant of his head.

 _As a guard looks at a monitor. He mostly resembles a secret service man - more bureaucrat than thug. A second man rolls into frame on a chair behind him, also watching the screen._

Owen walks Ianto through the corridor. They approach a pair of double doors.

"We can't make it to the surface from inside." Owen turns suddenly as he hears footsteps, people heading at them from the other side of the doors. "Find a …"

But Ianto has, impossibly, scampered up over some lab equipment to the dark top of the corridor, where he holds himself in a perfect split, feet against the walls and outstretched hand holding the sprinkler for support.

The doors burst open and two doctors pass by, hardly noticing the lone orderly.

Passing right under Ianto.

A ventilation shaft beckons. It's small, 15 feet by 15 feet. Goes a long way up and a long way down. One wide hinged window looks in on the hall inside. Owen and Ianto approach with quiet haste.

They slip through the window. Owen shuts it, wedges his baton into the handle as the security team approaches. They fire at the glass, but their lasers have no effect.

Wind whips Ianto's finger length curly hair about as he looks up to see a small patch of daylight visible ten stories up. Sees the sky blotted out by a ship that hovers above them.

The Ship is floating over the grass of rolling hills, the city gleaming far beyond. This facility is well hidden. A gurney-sized section of the ship's belly detaches and drops down ten stories, cables spooling it out of the ship. It comes to Owen and Ianto and stops suddenly.

"Get on!" Owen demands.

He is standing by the window - and the Security Agent is right behind him, smashing at the window with all his might.

Owen helps Ianto onto the gurney, and then jumps on himself as the Security Agent cracks the glass. The two are whisked up in the gurney, Ianto on his knees, Owen standing beside him holding one of the cables –

" **Stop."**

The action freezes.

"Lovely. Lovely. Backtrack."

The action rewinds, taking us back to the moment of Owen and Ianto on the gurney just before it rises.

"Stop."

There is a motionless beat, Ianto frozen in that crouch, and he steps through what we now see is a hologram of the event.

The Government's man. We'll just call him the Agent. He is thoughtful, a little removed. Well groomed, a suit too nondescript to be a uniform, too neat to be casual wear. He is in the Records Room which is long and bare but for drawers of holographic records, a set-up for watching recordings (where the image of Owen and Ianto floats), and a table with computer and chair. The Unit Agent crosses to the table, looks over some papers.

"Biograph. Owen Harper Nee Jones."

As he looked up at the screen Hart snarls softly.

He will find them.

They will pay for this.


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

Owen's history files scroll down in print and pictures, graduation, security photo from his medical internship and such stream in front of the Agent.

"Remarkable children." He says softly as he looks more closely at a picture of a young Owen and Ianto in their Agency Uniforms.

Tanzanaki storms in, two security men (not the ones from before) and a nervous young female intern following. He looks greyer and more gaunt than when we saw him last.

"Excuse me! No one is allowed in the records room without my express permission." Tanzanaki snarls and then he slows.

"Forgive me. I prefer to see the event alone, without bias." the Agent as he likes to be called sats without caring as Tanzanaki looks at the hologram - realizes which one it is.

"I need to see your clearance." He demands.

"You're right to insist. I know you've had security issues here."the Agent smiles and he places his hand on a screen as he says it. Tanzanaki looks at the readout then the ring on that hand, and drops the bluster.

"Apologies. An Operative of the Parliament will of course have full cooperation." Tanzanaki blusters as he looks to the screen again "I'm not sure what... I see no listing of rank, or name."

"I have neither. Like this facility, I don't exist. The Parliament calls me in when..." the Agent waves a hand theatrically as if plucking the words he needs from the air, "when they wish they didn't have to. Let's talk about the Jones siblings."

"I assume you've scanned the status logs..." Tanzanaki begins and again the hand flicks to cut him off mid speech.

"Ianto was your greatest success. A prodigy - A phenomenon. Until his brother walked in eight months ago and took him from you." the Agent finally decides.

"It's not quite so simple."

"I'm very aware of that." the Agent snorts.

"He came in with full creds. He beat the ap-scan, the retinal... There was no way I could …" Tanzanaki starts to stammer as he watches the Agent slowly smile like a predator who had seen a weakness.

"No, no. Of course. The boy spent his fortune developing the contacts to infiltrate this place." the Agent agrees.

"Gave up a brilliant future in medicine as well, you've probably read. Turned his back on his whole life." Tanzanaki sighs "Madness."

"Madness, no. Something a good deal more dangerous. Have you looked at this scan carefully? At his face?" the Agent asks and Tanzanaki looks uncertain. He continues, "It's love, in point of fact. He loved his brother and he knew he was in pain. So he took him somewhere safe."

"Why are you here?"

"I'm here because the situation is even less simple than you think." the Agent is eyeing him now, "Do you know what your sin is, Doctor?"

"I would be very careful about what you…"

"It's pride." He says sadly as he touches the computer screen and the hologramic image jumps to the Doctor and Owen in the lab, Tanzanaki repeating:

 _ **Key members of Parliament have personally observed this subject. I was told their support -**_

Shutting it off the Agent cants his head, "Key members of Parliament. Key.

The minds behind every diplomatic, military and covert operation in the galaxy, and you put them in a room with a psychic."

"He was... he read cards, nothing more."Tanzanaki whimpers as he sees the danger at long last, too late of course but at least better late than never I suppose.

"It's come to our attention that Ianto became much more unstable, more... disturbed, after you showed him off to Parliament. Did he see something very terrible in those cards?"

"Whatever... secrets he might have accidentally gleaned... it's probable he doesn't even know he knows them. That they're buried beneath…"

"But they are in him. His mind is unquiet. It's the will of the Parliament that I kill him. And the brother. Because of your sin." the Agent responds with equal calm as he moved to a briefcase "You know, in certain older civilized cultures, when men failed as entirely as you have, they would throw themselves on their swords."

"Well, unfortunately I forgot to bring a sword to…" Tanzanaki scoffs but then the air rings crisply as The Agent pulls out his sword.

"The Parliament has no further interest in psychics. They represent a threat to the harmony and stability of our Agency." the Agent explains.

"I would put that down right now if I were you."

"Would you be killed in your sleep, like an ailing pet? Whatever your failings, I believe you deserve better than that." the Agent says strongly. Both security men move.

The Agent slices the throat of the one behind him with true grace, thrusting at the second as he's pulling out his gun and pinning his hand. A moment and the dying agent reflexively squeezes the trigger, shooting his own arm.

Then he pulls out the sword and the second security agent falls as quietly as the first.

Tanzanaki bolts but he pins him to the wall. He bunches his fingers and jabs the side of the Doctor's spine.

Tanzanaki stiffens, suddenly, agonizingly immobile.

The Agent steps back, observes the Doctor's rigid grimace for a moment. Almost ceremoniously, he drops to one knee and holds the blade out to one side, hilt to the floor and point tilted toward the doctor. The Doctor stares at it in horror as his paralyzed body begins to tip over toward it.

The Agent turns toward the terrified intern at the door.

"Miss, I'll need all the logs on behavioural modification triggers. We'll have to reach out to Ianto Jones, and help him to come back to us. No matter how far out Owen has taken him, we can …"He's almost startled when the Doctor's body drops into frame, suddenly to the sword. It squeaks down the blade, the Doctor unable to cry out, as Hart whispers to him "This is a good death. There's no shame in this, in a man's death. A man who's done fine works. We're making a better world. All of them, better worlds."

Tanzanaki is dead.

The Agent pulls the sword out as the body rolls over. As he wipes the sword down he speaks again, "Young miss, I need you to get to Work now. I think I may have a long way to travel."

She goes.

He approaches Ianto's image, very close, staring "Where are you hiding, eye candy?"


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

 **TORCHWOOD**

Words boldly in front of us becomes the name painted on the side of a spaceship, with the same in Chinese behind it.

The name is on the nose, under the bridge. It sticks out from the body of the ship like a craning neck. The body is bulbous, with propulsion engines on either side and a giant glowing back. There are two small shuttles tucked in over the 'wings' of the engines. It's not the sleekest ship in the 'verse, to be sure.

As it hits atmo, the propulsion engines take over and she starts to rock a bit, noise filling our ears. At the windows and into the bridge, to see the Captain, Jaxton 'Jax' Harkness, standing and watching.

At that moment, a small piece of the nose breaks off and goes flying past the window.

The bridge is small: two pilot seats on either side, with a tangle of wires and machinery all about.

Jax wears the full-length Great Coat and boots of an old Independent. Gun at his hip. He's not unlike the ship …he's seen a bit of the world and it left him, emotionally at least, weathered. Right now, though, he's mostly startled.

"What was that?" Jax is addressing the pilot, Mickey. Flight gear and a Hawaiian shirt, toy dinosaurs populating his station - no old soldier, but just as startled.

"Whoah! Did you see that" Mickey crows as the ship bucks

"Was that the primary buffer panel?" Jax asks the room.

"It did seem to resemble…" Mickey starts to answer.

"Did the Primary Buffer Panel just fall off my goddamn ship for no apparent reason?" Jax says with wonder. Another buck.

"Looks like." Mickey says with wide innocent eyes.

"I thought Toshiko checked our entry couplings! I have a very clear memory of it" Jax says with equal surprise.

"Yeah well if she doesn't give us some extra flow from the engine room to offset the burn through this landing is gonna get pretty interesting." Mickey shrugs conversationally.

"Define "Interesting"."

"Oh god, oh god, we're all gonna die?" Mickey suggests calmly.

Jax hits the com, "This is the Captain. There's a little problem with our entry sequence; we may experience slight turbulence and then explode."

"Can you shave the vector…" Jax is shouting at Mickey who rolls his eyes.

"I'm doing it! It's not enough."

"Toshiko!" Jax roars down the coms. "Just get us on the ground!"

"That part'll happen, pretty definitely." Mickey snorts with amusement like they are talking about a cake burning or something.

The ladder from the bridge leads Jax down. On either side of the hall are ladders leading down to crew's personal quarters. The hulking mercenary Rhys is coming up out of his bunk as Jax passes. He carries a number of rifles and grenades.

"we're gonna explode? I don't wanna explode."

"Rhys, how many weapons you plan on bringing? You only got the two Arms" Jax asks with surprise at the arsenal.

"I just get excitable as to choice, like to have my options open." Rhys shrugs.

"I don't plan on any shooting taking place during this job." Jax frowns.

"Well, what you plan and what takes place ain't ever exactly been similar." Rhys reminds him in a brotherly kinda way.

"No grenades." Jax demands and Rhys makes a whining noise in his throat as his eyes go all puppy dog begging. "No grenades."

First Mate Martha enters from the lower level. Her mode of dress and military deference mark her as a war buddy of Jax's. "Are we crashing again?"

"Talk to your husband. Is the mule prepped?" Jax replies as he watched her pass with a look of open appreciation for her curves.

"Good to go, sir. Just loading her up." She answers and then sees Rhys slumped to one side "Are those grenades?"

"Cap'n doesn't want 'em." Rhys grumbles with a childish pout.

"We're robbing the place. We're not occupying it." She scolds like a mother used to a naughty child and Rhys sighs again.

They never let him blow shit up!

Jax has now in the communal space of the ship, homey and messy. There is food left lying on the table. Jax swipes a dumpling from a plate, pops it in his mouth as another jolt rocks him and sends most of the tableware clattering to the floor.

"Toshiko!" Jax yells around his mouthful of food. "Toshiko, what in the sphincter of hell are you playing at?"

The hall leads to the rust-brown chaos that is the engine room. Working around the engine in a forest of wires, sparks and smoke is the sweetly pretty mechanic, Toshiko. She passes Jax with a slightly impatient smile as he stands in the doorway, raising his voice above the din. "We got the Primary Buffer?"

"Everything's shiny, Cap'n. Not to fret." She smiles up at him with a smear of grease on her cheek.

"You told me…" Jack scolds then squeaks as the vessel is jolted to one side. "You told me the entry couplings would hold for another week!"

"That was six months ago, cap'n." she replies calmly, used to this.

"My ship don't crash. If she crashes, you crashed her." Jax huffs, then steam and electricity shoot at him, backing him up.

He turns to see Owen behind him. Owen is more seasoned than before, but still contrasts the Captain entirely in dress and manner. He is implacably proper. Also pissed.

"Doctor. Guess I need to get unhooked 'fore we hit planetside."

Owen nods, the ship jolting again.

"Bit of a rockety ride. Nothing to worry about." Jax smiles disarmingly at the shorter man.

"I'm not worried." Owen shrugs.

"Fear is nothing to be ashamed of, Doc." Jax assures him.

"This isn't fear. This is anger." Owen snarls.

"Well, it's kinda hard to tell the one from t'other, face like yours." Jax shoots at him as he fluffs his hair.

"I imagine if it were fear, my eyes would be wider." Owen says with equal disinterest.

"I'll look for that next time." Jax grins.

"You're not taking him." Owen suddenly says, as if just catching on to what is happening.

"No no, that's not a thing I'm interested in talking over with …" Jax tries to slide around Owen but he leans in close "He's not going with you. That's

final."

"I hear the words "that's final" come out of your mouth ever again, they truly will be." Jax suddenly drops the banter and his face is cold, then it flickers back to jovial as if it never happened, "This is my boat. Y'all are guests on it."

Owen stands there for a beat then turns to chase after the Captain.

He was not going to let Ianto go on a bloody scavenger hunt for the love of the Gods!


	4. Chapter 4

**4**

Jax heads down a side corridor that has steps leading down to the passenger berths and Owen is right on his heels as they trip down the stairs.

"Guests? I earn my passage, Captain…" Owen is now enraged.

"And it's time your little brother learned from your fine example." Jax throws over his shoulder as he sees Owen is catching up to him again.

"I've earned my passage treating bullet holes, knife wounds, laser burns..."

"Some of our jobs are trickier than others" Jax shrugs.

"And you want to put my brother in the middle of that." Owen sighs.

"Didn't say 'want'. Said 'will'." Jax laughs as he turns another corner and drops down again, "It's one job, Doc. He'll be fine."

The passenger dorm has a time-worn warmth that most of the ship shares. Except, of course, for the sterile blue of the infirmary into which the two men step.

He's just a boy. A mentally traumatized …"

"He's a reader." Jax cuts him off and stops moving forcing Owen to slam into him and bounce off like a small pebble hitting sold rock. "Sees into the truth of things; might see trouble before it's coming. Which is of use to me."

"And that's your guiding star, isn't it? What's of use." Owen sneers.

"Honestly, doctor, I think we may really crash this time anyway." Jax says happily, then a squeak as Owen jabs the inoculation needle into Jax's arm.

"Do you understand what I've gone through to keep Ianto away from the Agency?" Owen asks earnestly.

"I do, and it's a fact me and mine have been courteous enough to keep to our own selves." Jax agrees.

"Are you threatening to …"

"I got one purpose here: keep this boat in the air. I take the jobs I get … which is less and less, case you ain't been keeping track." He starts away, Owen still keeping pace. **"** Every year since the war the Agency pushes just a little further out towards the rim. Makes it a chore for naughty men like us to slip about – and keeping you two on board means working twice as hard to avoid the law. Means turning down a score of honest jobs."

They enter the biggest space on the ship. Giant doors sit at the front, which will open upon landing to reveal a lowering ramp. Catwalks surround the space, leading up at the front to the foredeck hall. We've come all the way through Torchwood.

"So here is us, on the raggedy edge. Don't push me and I won't push you." Jax throws his arms wide.

Owen starts up the stairs as Jax calls to him "Things get gritty I will keep him from the fray, but he's coming. Best you get him ready."

As Jax walks on, he passes the Mule, a four-man hovercraft hanging from chains near the ceiling. Rhys and Martha are tossing duffle bags into it.

"Martha, is Mickey gonna straighten this boat out before we get flattened?" Jax asks her and she flicks her dreads back to look at him.

"Like a downy feather, sir. Nobody flies like my mouse."

Up in the Guest quarters Owen is standing watching Ianto. He's lying on his side, looking straight at him. A loose summer shirt draped over his small frame. It looks a lot like one of those Jax wore. A belt clinches it all in making Ianto resemble some sort or Pirate with his black trousers and boots contrasting against the white shirt.

"I know. We're going for a ride." Ianto says softly in that soft welsh lit.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

Torchwood settles gently down as the cargo bay door opens.

The chains are hoisted back up into the ceiling of the ship.

The mule floats just above the floor, Rhys piling in next to Ianto in the back as Owen continues to speak softly to him "Now, Ianto, you stay behind the others. If there's fighting you drop to the floor or run away. It's okay to leave them to die."

Rhys slowly turns to look at Owen and grin menacingly.

Ianto puts on a huge pair of goggles, looks at his brother with his eyes now huge in the lenses. "I'm the brains of the operation. Beep, Beep."

"Ianto, you are not fucking Mister Toad, this is not a game."

Ianto just grins maniacally and we see that he is definitely not firing on all cylinders if ya know what I mean.

"We should hit town right during Sunday worship. Won't be any crowds." Martha informs them as she fiddles with her own goggles.

"If Andy and Pandy are right about the payroll, this could look to be a sunny day for us." Jax grins at her.

"Captain, I'll ask you one last time..." Owen asks.

"Doctor, I'm taking your brother under my protection here. If anything happens to him, anything at all, I swear to you I will get very choked up. Honestly. There could be tears."

He peels out, leaves Owen fuming. Toshiko sidles up to him "Don't mind the Captain none, Owen. I know he'll look out for him."

"It's amazing. I bring Ianto all the way out to the raggedy edge of the 'verse so he can hide from the Agency by robbing banks." Owen laughs with sarcasm.

"It's just a little Trading Station. They'll be back 'fore you can spit." She smiles and it fades as he stalks off, "Not that you spit..."

Toshiko watches him go, a tad forlorn.


	5. Chapter 5

**5**

The town is sprawled before them, as the mule heads in.

The town embodies the lives of folk out here: adobe and wood mix with metal and plastic - whatever's on hand to build with. Right now the streets are mainly empty.

The mule pulls up, Martha hitching it as Rhys speaks "What are we hoping to find here that equals the worth of a turd?"

"Agency payroll. There's peace enforcing squads stationed all about this quadrant. Can't use credits out here" Jax says excitedly. "They got to pay their boys in cashy money. Which once a month rests here."

"Something about stealing from the Agency just warms a body like whiskey in winter." Martha sighs happily as Jax grins back.

"Shiny." Rhys says as he pulls out a hand gun "Let's be bad guys."

Jax turns back to Ianto. "You ready to go to work, darlin'?"

"There's no pattern to the pebbles here, they're completely random. I tried to count them but you drove too fast Cariad." Ianto told him earnestly through the goggles and with weird hand signals for emphasis.

"Right. Great. Let's go." Jax says with a look of confusion, then he turns to head in.

The door slams open, Jax and Rhys stride in, Martha following and whipping her weapon right at camera without looking.

The camera blinks with "Welcome to Lilac" on it for the millisecond before it's blown to bits.

There's maybe fifteen people in the place: store workers, farm-folk and a couple dirt-poor kids. It's a combination post-office, general store, bank, and most other things.

"Hands and knees and heads bowed down! Everybody, now!" she roars.

Two men who appear to be farm folk rush Jax and the others. Jax draws on the elder one and he stops dead in his tracks. Jax's gun is long, not unlike Civil War era issue, but very much new in design.

The other tries to tackle Rhys, which is not necessarily a great idea. Rhys clotheslines him so hard he spins right upside-down - and Rhys grabs him by the legs and CRACK! -bounces his head right off the floor, knocking him out cold.

"Y'all wanna be looking very intently at your own belly buttons." Jax says calmly, "I see a head start to rise, violence is gonna ensue."

The guy who rushed Jax complies along with everyone else.

Rhys dumps his catch on the floor and rips open his dirty shirt to reveal the purple of an Agency uniform. "Looks like this is the place."

Rhys looks up at Jax, who motions for Martha to open the front door. She does, and Ianto steps in and starts walking slowly among the hunched-over customers as Jax addresses them.

"You've probably guessed we mean to be thieving here, but what we are after is not yours. So let's have no undue fussing." Jax soothes and as he is speaking, Rhys is scrambling to the back office, finding the small vault locked.

"She's locked up." Rhys calls out as Ianto suddenly looks around, perturbed.

Ianto looks up at Martha, alarmed, and silently points to the young man by the door. He is slowly reaching for the weapon in his belt. He finds Martha's sawed-off nuzzling his cheek.

"You know what the definition of a hero is? It's someone who gets other people killed. You can look it up later." Martha whispered and he drops his weapon, slides it across the floor.

Jax moves to the Trade Agent. Hauls him up, tosses him toward the vault. Martha and Rhys follow.

"This is just a crop moon, don't think you'll find what you…" the man whimpers.

Jax replies by cocking the weapon and canting his head.

The old man punches in the code. What opens is a tiny wall safe. Bundles of bills, some scattered coin. Unimpressive. Rhys and Martha are behind the captain, peering in.

"At last. We can retire and give up this life of crime." Martha drones sarcastically.

Jax reaches in, pulls a lever and the floor opens, a six foot hole appearing, stairs leading to a corridor, all gleaming metal and blue light. Martha smiles. Rhys peers down as Jax addresses the Trade Agent. "Is there a fed down there? Be truthful."

"Y'all are Great Coats, hey?" the Trade Agent notices Jack's coat for the first time. "Fought for independence?"

"War's long done. We're all just folk now." Jax replies, then leans out to call down "Listen up! We are coming down to empty that vault!"

The voice of a young Agency Guard comes up from below. "You have to give me your authorization password!

Rhys impatiently fires a burst of machine-gun fire down into the hole. A beat...

"Okay..."

Jax looks at Martha and they head down into the vault which is as modern as something off the Central Planets. A short corridor leads to a real vault door that the guard is already opening. Behind that door, a few bags of the real deal: neatly stacked cash, waiting to be robbed.

Ianto pauses as something crosses his face. Worry.

A Woman carrying a bucket while walking along the dirt road in the main street and her nine year old Son are looking at the trading station a few buildings away.

"Repeater." The son points out.

Did sound summat like gunblast...Maybe you aught run tell Lawman..." She turns and right by her, in the shadows, is a man.

Mostly.

He is hideously disfigured, a combination of self-mutilation and the bubbling red of radiation poisoning. His clothes are rags, his eyes pinpoints of glazed madness.

A blade blurs as it flies throught the air...

.

.

.

.

.

Ianto screams and flops onto his back, pinned by revelation.

Others look at him, concerned, as Rhys makes his way to him, "What the hell is up? You all right? What's goin' on?"

He holds him, as Ianto whispers, wide-eyed...

"Munchers."


	6. Chapter 6

**6**

Martha is hauling out the last of five bags as Jax talks to the guard, holding his gun at him "Leg's good, it'll bleed plenty and we avoid any necessary organs..."

"I was thinking more of a graze.." the guard whimpers.

"Well you don't want it to look like you just gave up..." Jax was arguing.

"JAX!" Rhys hollers from above.

Jax mutters to himself "Every heist, he's gotta start yelling my name"

"Jax! Munchers! The wee fella's pitchin' a fit. They're here or they're comin' soon." Rhys is shouting. He is already loading up with bags as Jax thinks quickly.

"Get on the mule." Jax orders, then turns to the guard and points to the vault door, "Does that open from the inside?"

"Whah -ah- yes..."

"You get everyone upstairs in there and you seal it. Long as you got air you don't open up, you understand?" Jax tells the guard.

"I - Buh I –"

Jax is in his face, dark and huge " **GET THEM INSIDE THE VAULT."**

The doors burst open, Rhys and Martha coming out first, Jax behind with Ianto in hand. He is freaked, in his own space. Rhys and Martha throw the bags in and Jax speaks as calmly as possible, "Martha take the wheel"

"You see 'em? Anybody see 'em?" Rhy demands as he looks about wildly.

Jax is scanning the area as he hands Ianto up to Rhys' care. As the craft powers up, slowly moving, the young man Martha kept from trying to pull his weapon bursts out of the station, grabbing the back of the mule.

"Take me with you!" he pleads.

"Get in the vault with the others" Jax calls out.

"I can't stay here! Please!" the man pleads desperately.

"It's too many. Drive, Martha." Jax yells as he looked up.

A Muncher craft ROARS over their heads. It's nearly the size of Torchwood. Torn apart, belching smoke - a welded mess and cacophony of ruined ships, painted for war. Predator, pure. It disappears over the rooftops.

"Oh Gods, Please!" the man cries.

"Drive!" Jax screams as he crouches low over Ianto.

Martha's face is set with unhappy determination as she floors it, shooting out and leaving the young man in the dust.

As they move from him, four Munchers jump out of the shadows and grab the young man. Jax unhesitatingly draws his gun. He nudges a lever with his thumb and a cartridge pops back.

Jax fires twice. The young man takes both bullets in the chest, slumps down dead.

As the mule shoots past the last building, skiff shoots out from behind the buildings of the adjacent street, right abreast of our gang.

We see the church as the first ship and an even larger one comes to hover over it, Munchers dropping down on cable lines to swarm into it.

The mule and the skiff are booking through the rocky terrain.

The skiff swings closer, but Rhys peppers it with automatic fire and it swings away. There is sporadic return fire.

"How come they ain't blowing us out of the air?" Rhys calls out to Jax with confusion.

"They wanna run us down. The up-close kill." Jax yells back as he looks down at Ianto who is squashed down on his back, being very small.

"They want us alive when they eat us." Ianto explained as one would a small child. Jax grinned at him softly.

"Boy, sure would be nice if we had some grenades, don't chya think?" Rhys asks but Jax says nothing, keeps firing.

"Mickey, baby can you hear me?" Martha calls down the coms as she grits her teeth and manoeuvres around the large boulders.

Back at the Torchwood Mickey is in a frenzy of switch flipping, prepping for take-off. "We're moments from air. You got somebody behind you?"

"Munchers." Martha pants with wide eyes as she throttles up again.

Mickey makes a rude noise as he struggles to get the big bitch airborne.

"We're not gonna reach you in time." Martha yells.

"Just keep moving, honey. We're coming to you." Mickey answers as a flash behind him tells him Tosh was listening as Torchwood lifts off and starts heading toward the others.

Martha gets the mule in front but a harpoon flies through the air from the skiff and it goes through Rhys' leg.. The harpoon grips the leg and pulls.

Rhys goes flying off the back of the Mule, Jax just grabbing him as the harpoon line reels slowly tighter.

"Grab on!" Jax yells and Rhys grabs the Mule, legs dangling, pulled out between the two vessels as Jax slams a new cartridge into his pistol.

"I won't get eaten!" Rhys begs, "You shoot me if they take me!"

Jax steadies himself and takes aim, seemingly at Rhys "Well don't shoot me first!"

Jax fires.

Again.

Steadies himself for one more...

The line holding the harpoon is split by Jax's third shot.

The mule surges forward as Rhys drags on the ground. Jax hauls him in as Ianto bounds into the front to make room.

"Rutting pigs! Where's…" Rhys snarls and Ianto is holding out his weapon before he can ask for it.

Torchwood rushes across the desert floor, not much higher off it than the smaller crafts.

"Get some distance on 'em. You come to the flats, I want you to swing round. Gonna try a Barn Swallow." Mickey hits the com. "Owen! Open the loading dock!"

Owen moves next to the huge sliding doors at the front, hits a couple of buttons. The doors pull open, as the huge ramp beyond them opens down, letting in a rush of wind and light.

The mule reaches the flats, away from the rocks.

Okay, baby, we've talked this through..." Mickey is crooning in Martha's ear and she smiles.

"Talkin' ain't doin'." She laughs as she throws the wheel and the mule comes hard about, fishtailing slightly as it faces the oncoming skiff.

"Don't slow down!" Mickey roars ad he growls, wrestling his controls.

As it heads for the skiff - and Torchwood swoops down out of the sky, bay doors open, and comes right up behind it – The Mule swallowed by the bigger ship - And only its forward momentum keeps it from being squashed as it flies backwards into the bay, narrowly missing Owen and smashing back into the staircase, sparks and people flying -Torchwood tries to get altitude - but slams right into the oncoming skiff, tearing it apart – A flaming portion of the top flies in, skids to the floor as small fires erupt from the mule as well - Owen pulls a lever and jets of C02 shoot out of the floor.

Owen hits the button to start the outer ramp closing, then runs to the mule. The C02 stops and he finds Ianto sitting in his seat, completely unharmed.

Martha is climbing painfully out of the other seat, Jax and Rhys both having been thrown clear.

"Ianto?" Owen whispers as he stares at his motionless brother, sitting there like a mannequin.

Slowly Ianto's head turns to stare at him.

"I swallowed a bug."


	7. Chapter 7

**7**

Toshiko runs in to see how everyone is. She goes to Owen. "Are you okay?"

"Is he okay?" Jax asks as he looks over at Ianto, not Owen.

A bloodied Muncher appears from under the skiff-top.

He lunges for Jax, baring sharpened teeth -Jax spins and draws, fires into his belly as Rhys and Martha both fire at the same time. The freak takes too long to go down, but down he goes. Dies sitting against a box.

Everybody takes a moment to look at each other.

"all here? What's going on?" Mickey is still up on the flight deck, unaware of the commotion below, "Hello?"

"No casualties. Anybody following?" Martha replies as if there was never a problem.

"Nice flying, baby, and that's a negative. Clean getaway - Out of atmo in six minutes." Mickey grins as he flops on the chair.

"Set course for Beaumonde." Jax yells over Martha's shoulder down the coms and then turned to grin at the others, "First thing, I want these bod –"

Owen suddenly punches him in the face, causing Jax to stumble back, and Owen to shake his hand in pain. "You stupid, selfish, son of a whore"

"I'm a hair's breadth from riddling you with holes, Doctor" Jax warns as he feels his chin for damage.

"One simple job! he'll be fine!" Owen says in a drawl like Jax and he grins like it was amusing.

"He IS fine! Except for bein' still crazy, he's the picture of health!" Jax snorts.

"Wasn't for Ianto, we'd probably be left there. He felt 'em coming." Martha tells Owen.

"Never again. You understand me?" Owen demands as he shakily runs a hand through his hair.

"Seems I remember a talk about you giving orders on my boat." Jax warns half heartedly.

"Well sleep easy 'cause we're off your boat. Just as soon as Ianto gets his share of the "bounty"." Owen snarls as he pulls Ianto from his seat, the young man now inspecting a spent bullet casing with interest.

"Well let's not do anything hasty..." Toshiko says as she sees Owen means it this time.

"No, shiny! I'm sick a' carrying tourists anyhow. We'll be on Beaumonde in ten hours time, you can pick up your earnings and be on your merry. Meantime you do your job. Patch up my crew." Jax agrees.

A beat.

"He didn't lie down. They never lie down." Ianto is looking at the Muncher. Everyone does, for a moment.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

Jax and Martha are walking a long corridor as they speak.

"No, I think things'll glide a deal smoother for us without Ianto and Owen on board... but how long do you think they'll last?" Martha asks as she slides a knife into her thigh pocket.

"Doc made his call. They's as babes in a basket when we took 'em in; we sheltered 'em plenty. Man has to cut loose, learn to stand on his own." Jax sniffs as he slaps an open door closed.

"Like that man back in town?" Martha asks as they stop by Jax's room.

"I had to shoot him. What the Munchers woulda done to him before they killed him..." Jax argues as he stops in front of his door.

"I know. That was a piece a' mercy. But before that, him begging us to bring him along..." Martha sighs.

"We couldn't take the weight." Jax slumps against the door, "Woulda slowed us down."

"You know that for certain" she challenges.

"Mule won't run with five. I shoulda dumped the boy? Or you? Or Rhys?" he asks, hen pauses, "Well, Rhys..."

"Coulda tossed the payload."Martha folds her arms and he resists the urge to grin at her.

"And go to Andy and Pandy with air in our mitts, tell 'em "here's your share"? They'd set the dogs on us in the space of a twitch, and there we are back in mortal peril. We get a job, we gotta vo make good."

Mickey enters from the bridge.

"Sir, I don't disagree on any particular point, it's just... in the time of war, we woulda never left a man stranded." Martha dinally says and Jax grimaces.

"Maybe that's why we lost."

She's not happy with the reply. Jax climbs down to his room as Mickey reaches Martha, slides his arms around her.

Once alone, Jax lets his own disappointment show. He pulls off his holster and drops it over a chair. Kicks the toilet closed and sits on his bunk.

The place resembles a submarine cabin, with charts and clutter, ancient maps on the walls.

Jax moves a bunch of papers off his bunk and a picture slides out. Hits the floor.

Jax stares at it and sighs as he remembers the day it was handed to him.

.

.

.

He holds it in his hand as a beautiful woman who looks at him with amused exasperation. _Behind her is an opulently dressed little shuttle._

" _Toshiko, are you ever gonna put that capture down?" Rose laughs as she watches Toshiko pull it from Jax's hand to place back up on the board._

" _We gotta have records of everything. A bona fide Companion entertained clients on this very ship! In this very bed!" Toshiko gushed.  
_

 _Rose wanders over to the bed - which Ianto is bending over and sniffing curiously. Rose is packing things up._

" _For one sweet second, we was almost classy." Toshiko sighs as she watched her friend pack to leave._

" _You promised to help me pack." Rose laughs as she wrestles a bottle of perfume away from Ianto's clever fingers._

" _Honest, Rose, why do you have to leave?" Toshiko whines._

 _Rose shoots an uncertain look at Jax_ \- and the picture freezes, once more the one in his hand.

During all this, Jax has picked it up. He looks at it a moment, tosses it aside. Looks around at nothing much.

.

.

.

.

"I do not get it. How's a guy get so wrong?" Rhys asks.

The doors in the floor slide open, a second set below.

Toshiko is opening the doors with a keypad on a cable. Rhys drags the corpse closer to the doors as he continues "Ain't logical. Cuttin' on his own face, rapin' and murdering – I mean, I'll kill a man in a fair fight... or if I think he's gonna start a fair fight, or if he bothers me, or if there's a woman, or I'm gettin' paid - mostly only when I'm gettin' paid. But these Munchers... last ten years they just show up like the boageyman from stories. Eating people alive? Where does that get fun?"

He dumps the body in, she starts the doors closing.

"Doctor said they was men that reached the edge of space. Saw a vasty nothingness and just went bibbledy over it." She says.

"Hell, I been to the edge. Just looked like more space." Rhys frowns.

"I don't know. People get awful lonely in the black. Like to get addled ourselves, we stay on this boat much longer. Captain'll drive us all off, one by one." Toshiko says softly.

"You're just in a whinge cuz that prissy doc is finally disembarking. Me I says good riddance. He never belonged here, and his brother's no saner than one of them Munchers." Rhys scoffs.

"That ain't even so! Ianto's a dear heart and a boon to this crew! You just don't like him 'cause he can read your mind and everything you think is mean." Toshiko mutters as she turns away to hide her upset from him.

"Well, there is that." Rhys frowns as he agrees.

"Him and Owen could have a place here. Now they're leaving us." Toshiko throws the wrench she is carrying down making it clang loudly, "Just like Doctor."

She looks up toward one of the shuttles. "Just like Rose..."


	8. Chapter 8

8

 **COMPANION TRAINING HOUSE**

And here she is, moving back and down, her eyes half closed in passion. She settles on a cluster of brocaded pillows, and we see another head lowering in for a kiss... Come around to see it's another lovely young woman – and that there is a group of ten others watching intently, all in saris, on their knees. Two handsome young men with shaved heads in the back, also on their knees.

Rose stops before the kiss, smiling and coming back up. She speaks to the girls (We hear only soft music) as she repositions the one she's with, lowering again; showing her the motion of surrender as if it were a dance step.

"They love you." A voice shakes Rose from her reverie as she stares out the window, still trying to relax from the session.

Rose looks out at the mountains. The space she's in resembles a Tibetan monastery, if slightly more opulent. She is with Carys, a somewhat older Companion, the woman whose voice we heard. She hands Rose a drink.

"The girls. They've learned more from you these last months than the rest of us could show them in two years." Carys points out.

"They're very sweet. But they're not Companions." Rose smiles.

"You've no hope for them? Junk the lot, start anew?"Carys kids and Rose snorts.

"On London 12 we started training at twelve. Years of discipline and preparation before the physical act of pleasure was even mentioned. Most of these girls…" Rose explains.

"They're all of good family, the highest academic standards…" Carys defends her girls.

"Control. Was the first lesson." Rose cuts her off, "And the last and these worlds are not like the Central Planets. There is barbarism dressed up in the most civil weeds. Men of the highest rank who don't know the difference between a Companion and a common whore. It's unsafe."

"All the more reason the girls look to you. You came out here alone, before the Agency ever thought to establish a House this remote." Carys leans forward, "You've seen so much. You're a figure of great romance to them."

"Great romance has nothing to do with being a Companion, Carys. You should know better."

"I'm not the one who had a torrid affair with a pirate." Carys laughs as Rose nearly spills her drink.

"A who? With a what?" Rose sputters.

"It's the talk of the House. The girls all trade stories in the dorms at night." Carys whispers.

"I didn't... have a pirate..." Rose is scandalised.

"In one of the stories you make love in a burning temple. I think that's my favourite."

"This is unbearable. Captain Harkness is no pirate; he's apetty thief. And he never laid a finger on me. All he ever did was rent me a shuttle and be very annoying." Rose finally says.

"A year on his shuttle and he never laid a finger on you. No wonder you left." Carys giggles.

"I left because - go away. We're no longer friends. You're a stranger to me now."Rose bristles with anger.

"I do love to watch you boil. Don't worry. The stories will fade. And your Captain Harkness has probably gotten himself blown up by this time." Carys assures her.

"Yes. That would be just like him." She says out loud as she silently thinks of the true reason why she left.

Ianto.

.

.

.

.

.

Torchwood touches down on the crowded atoll amidst a number of other, equally disreputable ships. The place is filled with every kind of immigrant culture and shop imaginable.

The ramp is open and everyone is filing out, ready to hit the town. Toshiko is talking to Owen, who has Ianto in hand.

"Don't talk to the barkers – only the captains." Toshiko was trying to give Owen advice as she scuttled alongside him, desperately wishing he would just back down. "You look the captain in the eye, know who you're dealing with."

"I wish there was..." Owen paused since he doesn't know what to say.

She rattles on "You shouldn't aughta be so clean. It's a dead giveaway you don't belong, you always gotta be tidy. Don't pay anybody in advance. And don't ride in anything with a Capissen 38 engine, they fall right out of the sky."

"Toshiko." Owen says softly but she turns and heads off. Owen starts in the other direction, but Ianto looks after her and the others.

"Ianto... do you want to stay with them?" Owen asks softly.

"It's not safe."

"No, I fear it's not safe anymore." Owen agrees. He's heading off and doesn't hear Ianto's final words on the matter.

"For them."

.

.

.

.

.

Jax and Toshiko are heading down into the bar. They head down two stories straight down as they go, to a close group of dark tables and booths and a second screen playing in the corner.

"It's not my fault the Doc's got no stomach for Rim living" Jax complains at her sour mood.

"It is entirely and for all your fault! If you'd given Owen a moment, just a moment where he didn't think you were gonna throw them off or turn them in, he might've…" Toshiko surmises but Jax cuts her off.

"What? Swept you into his cleanly arms? Made tidy love to you?" Jax teases with a grind of his crotch at her and her eyes widen with rage.

They have reached the guncheck, where Rhys and Mickey have already checked their guns. It works like a lunch automat. Jax sticks his gun in a drawer, pulls out a chit – the drawer closes and rotates, revealing another empty one. A large bouncer with a shockrod watches impassively.

"Don't you dare joke! You know how much I pined on Owen." Toshiko snarls as they continue into the inner sanctum of the bar "And him fair sweet on me, I well believe, but he's so worried about being found out…"

"Captain didn't make 'em fugitives." Martha defends her Captain as she sees Toshiko is going to continue this all bloody night.

"But he coulda made 'em family! Steada driving them off. Steada keeping Owen from seein' I was there, when I carried such a torch and we coulda - goin' on a year now I ain't had nothin' twixt my nethers weren't run on batteries!" Toshiko splutters and they all freeze for a beat, then continue to walk. All wear looks of horror.

"Oh god! I can't know that!"Jax finally speaks in a hushed tone like he is totally scandalised.

"I could stand to hear a little more..." Rhys pokes at her.

"If you had a care for anybody's heart you woulda…" Toshiko is on the verge of tears.

"ENOUGH!" Jax snarls as he seizes her arm and shakes her into silence, "You knew he was gonna leave. We never been but a way station to those two. And how do you know what he feels? He's got Ianto to worry on but he still coulda shown you... if I truly wanted someone in my world bad enough, wouldn't be a thing in the 'verse could stop me from going to him."

"Tell that to Rose." She spits and for a moment, Jax is too shocked to react.

Toshiko storms out.


	9. Chapter 9

9

"Domestic troubles?" Pandy is young, tough - somewhere between a gangster and a fur-trader. Sounds lower-class British, or something like it.

"Domestic troubles?" Andy moves out from behind Pandy to reveal that he is Pandy's identical twin. Apart from slight differences in dress, they are indistinguishable.

"'Cause we don't wanna interrupt." Pandy finishes for his twin.

"A man should keep his house in order." Andy agrees.

"Pandy." Jax nods to one, then turns to the other "Andy."

"He's Pandy."

"He's Andy. You're Pandy." Jax shows he isn't falling for their trick.

"Ghahh! How is it you always know?" Pandy demands.

"Andy's prettier." Jax says as he flops into a chair "Feel to do some business?"

"Bit crowded, isn't it? As you see, we come unencumbered by thugs." Andy smiles as he waves a hand at the crowd.

"Which means at least four of the guys already in here are yours." Jax snorts, "All's one. I'll just keep Rhys with me."

"Sir, are you sure you don't…" Martha asks with concern.

"Go. Go get yourselves a nice romantic meal." Jax flicked credits at them.

"Honey... Meal... he said my favourite word!" Mickey gushes theatrically.

"It's business. We're fine." Jax assured her.

They leave and the four remaining men sit. Andy tosses a few coins to a saloon-girl, who does a little fan-dance...and the bar's view of the men is conveniently blocked by her little dance.

Jax's foot nudges a duffel bag of money to Pandy's foot.

"Quite a crew you've got." Paddy points out.

"Yeah, they're a fine bunch of rubes." Jax snorts.

"How you keep them on that crap boat is the subject of much musing tween me and Andy." Pandy asks.

"We go on and on." Andy agrees with his twin.

"So I'm noticing. Is there a problem I don't know of? You got 25% of a sweet take kissing your foot, how come we're not dispersing?" Jax frowns.

"Our end is forty, precious." Andy says quietly.

"My muscular buttocks it's forty" Rhys huffs.

"It is as of now. Find anyone around going cheaper." Pandy sneers.

"Find anyone around going near a sorry lot like you in the first instance." Andy agrees.

Ianto has entered, is looking about. Rhys sees him, nudges Mal, who looks and turns back to business. Ianto wanders around the perimeter of the bar, vaguely listening in on Mal's deal.

"You're unlikable, Jax. You got no respect for us above you, you got enemies in every quadrant, and your ship's older than the starting point of time. You's charity cases to such as us." Andy points out with a smug look.

"Well here's a foul thought. I conjured you two were incompetent; sent us out not knowing there were Munchers about. Now I'm thinking you picked us out because you did." Jax says with a frown.

"That were a sign of faith, boy. And it doesn't affect our forty per. Danger is, after all, your business." Pandy plucks at his sleeve disinterestedly.

"Munchers ain't business, double dickless." Rhys said with open animosity and Jax patted his arm affectionately, as one might a dog growling at a guest.

This is all background noise to Ianto, who has moved to the CV screen, on which is a commercial. It's animated, goofy, cartoon animals and anime-style Asian girls all transforming to insane fantasy figures as they sing.

 **FRUITY OATY BARS, POW! HEY! FRUITY** **BARS, MAKE A MAN OF A MOUSE, MAKE** **YOU BUST OUT YOUR BLOUSE, EAT THEM** **NOW, BANG! PING! ZOW! - TRY** **FRUITY, OATY BARS.**

Light from the CV on Ianto's face, all noise but the jingle fading out, finally that as well, just the hum in Ianto's ears.

And he whispers "Hallett."

He turns and looks back at the crowd.

What happens next happens very fast.

He strides silently to the first table - two men drinking quietly - and he slams his foot into one's face, then whips it back into the other's, knocking them both unconscious as -people are turning, just registering this boy - he kicks the table into a card player even as he sweeps a bottle off it behind him - the bottle hits a man behind him square in the face, a man he never even looked at – people are rising, fleeing or pushing forward -

"Ianto..." Jax says as he starts to rise from his chair.

"Whuhuh?" Rhys is dumbfounded.

Ianto's taking out a group of four, high kicks and perfect precision - Two men come from either side, one whipping out a knife - he does a perfect split, grabs his wrist above his head, using his momentum to stab the other one – Jax fights to get back to the gunrack. The bouncer reaches Ianto and he wrests his shockrod from him, uses it on him, on Andy and Pandy - the fan-dancer is bolting and Ianto hurls the rod at her head, knocks her cold...he's everywhere. On tables, chairs, under legs, using the room itself to take out every single person there.

One man hides behind a wall - impossibly, he swings his leg around the corner and nails his face.

Rhys grabs him from behind "Gorrammit, boy, it's me!"

Ianto grabs Rhys' crotch and squeezes - his grip loosens and Ianto spins, facing him, and flat-heels his nose with his palm, twirling into a gut kick that doubles him over, dispatching of another while he cracks Rhys' head with a small table - Somebody pulls a gun and he snaps his elbow, causing him to scream out even before he shoots himself in the gut – Jax frantically wrests a gun from the vending locker as Ianto knocks the other guy's gun in the air, kicks someone else and then catches it, whips it around just as Jax comes up with his, they are pointed right at each other –

"Baby?" Jax whispers.

"Eta Kooram Nah Smech!" Owen yells and Ianto drops to the ground, fast asleep.

There is a beat. Jax looks around the bar. He and Owen, who has run up to the entrance, are the only ones standing.

He looks down at Ianto.

He lies unconscious, helpless.

"I think maybe we ought to leave."


	10. Chapter 10

**10**

Two sleek warships glide silently in the black, followed by a third, bigger ship. This is The Agent's vessel, and it is everything Torchwood is not: sleek, predatory, icy cool.

The Agent is looking at the Maidenhead security feed -and Ianto is staring right at him.

"Hello again. Yes, it's me. I'm glad you've finally asked for me." The Agent says softly to the frozen frame of Ianto's pale face.

An Ensign is revealed looking at a separate monitor:

"We got a pos on a retinal" an ensign calls out nervously "the man carrying him out is Jaxton Harkness, captains a Firefly-class transport ship, "Torchwood". Bound by law five times, smuggling, tariff dodge... not convicted. Nothing here that would –"

"The ship. The name of the ship."

"Crossref. Jaxton Harkness." The ensign repeats, "Torchwood."

He looks over at the Ensign with a small, strange smile on his lips.

"Sir?"

"Torchwood Valley. Bloodiest battle of the entire war. The Independents held the valley for seven weeks, two of them after their high command had surrendered. 68% casualty rate."

"Of course, Sir, I just didn't…"

"There." The agent stops scrolling and Jax's military file opens, a picture of Jax."If the feds ever bothered to crossref justice files with war records... Yes. Our Mr. Harkness was a real Captain, 57th Overlanders. Volunteer. Fought at Torchwood till the very last. This man is an issue. This man hates us."

"First Mate Martha Harper, formerly Corporal Martha Freeman, also in the 57th. Career army, looks like." The Ensign reads from another screen.

"She's followed him far... Give me the crew, registered passengers - Our Captain is a passionate man, no room there for subtlety. He's bound to have some very obvious…" he pauses as a picture of Rose appears on the screen and he smiles as he finishes the sentence, "weakness"

.

.

.

.

.

Ianto is still asleep, Jax finishing chaining his wrists.

He lies on his side, breathing evenly.

Jax stares at him a moment as his hand stroked his hair, then he exits to find the whole group waiting for him, sans Mickey.

"May I see him?" Owen pleads.

"He's still napping just now. And I believe you've got some storytelling to do." Jax demands.

"We're out of atmo, plotted for Haven. No one following as of yet." Mickey states as he enters to sit at the table.

"Haven? We're gonna see Doctor?" Toshiko asks with surprise.

"We got to lay low. And I could fair use some spiritual guidance right about now." Jax replies, then turns to Owen, "I am a lost lamb; what in hell happened back there?"

"Start with the part where Rhys gets knocked out by a ninety pound boy. 'Cause I don't think that's ever getting old." Mickey asks with his hands clasped.

"Do we know if anyone was killed?" Martha asks.

"It's likely. I know he meant to kill me 'fore the Doc put him to sleep, which how exactly does that work anyhow?" Jax has not forgotten that part.

"Safeword." Owen replies and then sighs as Jax continues to stare at him. "The people who helped me break Ianto out - they had intel that Ianto and the other subjects were being embedded with behavioural conditioning. They taught me a safeword, in case... something happened."

"Not sure I get it." Rhys admits.

"A phrase that's encoded in his brain, that makes him fall asleep." Owen says slowly to the big man. "If I speak the words, "Eta …"

"Well don't say it!" Rhys cries and they sort at him.

"It only works on him, Rhys." Martha sighs.

"Oh. Well, now I know that." Rhys frowns.

"In case something happened." Jax repeats.

"What?" Owen sees that something is annoying Jax about the statement.

"You feel to elaborate on what that something might be? I mean they taught you that fancy safeword, they must've figured he was gonna, what - start

Uncontrollably crocheting?" Jax asks with wonder.

"They never said what.." Owen stutters.

"And you never did ask." Jax grabs him and throws him against the wall, in his face. "Eight months. Eight months you had him on my boat knowing full

well he might go monkey shit at the wrong word and you never said a thing"

"I brought him out here so they couldn't get to him, I don't even know how they …" Owen is still in shock at what had happened.

"My ship. My crew. You had a goddamn time bomb living with us!" Jax roars as his temper flares again.

Ianto's eyes open.

"What if he went off in the middle of dinner, or in bunk with Toshiko the way the cuddle like babes, did that give you a moment's pause?" Jax demands and Owen looks at Toshiko, the truth of Jax's words hitting him.

"I thought he was getting better."

"And I thought they was gettin' off!" Rhys whines. "Didn't we have a intricate plan how they was gonna be not here anymore?"

"We couldn't leave them now..." Tosh realises they are not out of the woods just yet.

"No, now that he's a... killer man we ought be bringin' 'em tea and dumplings!" Rhys scoffs then turns to Jax, "In earnest, Jax: why'd you bring him back on?"

Jax looks at Rhys, at all of them.

Doesn't have an answer.

Not one he can voice.

"May I see him." Owen begs again.

Jax nods and then steps aside. Owen is able to flee their company and enter the locker bay.

"He goes woolly again, we're gonna have to put a bullet to him." Rhys tells after him, his anger thrumming.

Ianto mouths the next words right along with Jax: "It's crossed my mind."

"Can I make a suggestion that doesn't involve violence, or is this the wrong crowd?" Mickey asks calmly.

"Honey..." Martha tries to quiet him down but he leans forward.

"Andy and Pandy might be coming hard down on us, or the laws... or maybe nobody could be bunged about a little social brawl. We need to get our bearings." Mickey declares.

"I think we need to talk to Mr. Universe."


	11. Chapter 11

**11**

A sprawling - and completely empty - communications complex. Giant satellite dishes everywhere.

Inside, we find an unkempt young man. Also sleep-deprived, over-caffeinated and kinda sweet. This is Eugene. He is alone but for his mannikin-like Love-bot, Gwen.

He's surrounded by screens, computers, feeds – machinery that looks both ultra-modern and long neglected. All the screens play different images - it's a mediaverse.

As he watches the security feed of Ianto's fight his image becomes a vidscreen. He's addressing Mickey, Jax and Martha.

"Oh, this is good. This is..." he giggles with glee "he's beating up all the burly men and I'm having a catharsis, it's happening right now, you guys always bring me the very best violence. You think you're in a hot place?"

"That's what we're looking to learn. Is there any follow up, a newswave..." Mickey demands.

"There is no "news", there's the truth of the signal, what I see, and there's the puppet theatre the Parliament's jesters foist on the somnambulant public. Monkey taught to say the word "monkey" – lead story on 32 planets. But the slum riots on Hera, not a…"

"What about this?" Jax demands with open surprise, "Did this make the... puppet theatre?"

"No sir. And no lawforce flags, either - I hadda go into the security feed direct..." Eugene says with wonder.

"You can do that?" Jax asks.

"Can't stop the signal, Jax." Eugene rolls his eyes, "Everything goes somewhere and I go everywhere. Security feeds are a traipse to access - and I wasn't the first one in, this has prints on it - oh! Look at him go!

Everyone is getting bruises and contusions. Contoooosions."

"So somebody else has been fed this." Martha turns to Jax "That doesn't like me too well."

"Martha, you sultry minx, stop falling in love with me. You're just gonna embarrass yourself. I have a commitment to my Lovebot, it was a very beautiful ceremony, Gwen wrote her own vows, I cried like a baby, a hungry, angry baby." Eugene gushes theatrically then glances back to Ianto on the screen, "Aaaaaand he falls asleep. Which, he would be sleepy."

"Can you go back? See if anybody spoke with him 'fore he acted up,

made any kind of contact with him?" Jax asks and Eugene works the screen. The image rewinds and stops on Ianto coming up to it, looking at it.

He whispers the word, "Hallett", and starts to move away.

"Hallett...?" Jax mutters, "Go back further."

"No" Eugene said blankly as he pulls another screen close, starts working that one.

Matching timecodes, he pulls up the commercial.

"Um... please?" Jax says with wide eyes, then shrugs.

Eugene has a third screen showing the commercial as well - and it starts breaking down, bursts of code showing through. As he does so "Friends and potential lovers, I have good news and I have the other kind. Good is you're very smart. Someone is talking to him."

"The oaty bar?" Mickey leans forward with interest.

"Subliminal." Jax gets it "It's a subliminal message broadwaved to trigger him."

"I been seeing this code pop up all over, last few weeks. And I cannot crack it. It's Agency and it's high military, so here then is the bad. Someone has gone to enormous trouble to find your little friend. And found him they have."

Jax, Martha and Mickey look at each other.

"Do you all know what it is you're carrying?" Eugene questions.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

In the locker room Ianto stares at Owen, impassive, as he is cleaning blood off Ianto's face.

"They're afraid of me." Ianto says dreamily.

"I'm sorry..." Owen sighs.

"They should be. What I will show them... Oh God..." he starts tearing up, breathing faster... Owen runs his hands through Ianto's hair.

"It's okay, it's okay..." Owen croons sadly as his brother panics.

"Show me off like a dog, old men covered in blood, it never touched them but they're drowning in it...so much loss... I don't know what I'm saying. I never know what I'm saying..." Ianto is whispering as if dazed.

"You said something. When you were triggered, do you remember? The Captain saw you say something on the feed..." Owen prompts.

"Hallett."

"Hallett?" Owen repeats.

"Ask her. She'll show you all." Ianto's laugh is quiet, sad and bitter.

"Show us what? Who is Hallett?" Owen whispers, **"** Am I... talking to Hallett now?"

Ianto shoots him a look. **"** I'm not a multiple, dumbo."

"No. Right. But I think somehow when they triggered you it brought this up, this memory"

"It isn't mine. The memory. I didn't bring it and I shouldn't have to carry it, it isn't mine." Ianto whimpers, pulling at the restraints, "Don't make me sleep again."

"I won't."

"Put a bullet to me. Bullet in the brain pan, squish."

"Don't say that. Not ever. We'll get through this." Owen snarls and Ianto reaches out and touches his face, affectionately.

"Things are going to get much much worse." He tells Owen conversationally.

"Well, the Captain hasn't tossed us in the airlock, so I'd say we're…"

"He has to see. More than anyone... he has to see what he doesn't want to." Ianto sighs.

"Ianto. What will Hallett show us." Owen demands.

Ianto thinks.

"Death."

"Whose death?" Owen demands and Ianto starts laughing. Quietly at first, then louder, then almost uncontrollably, screaming in his face:

" **EVERYBODY'S!"**


	12. Chapter 12

**12**

It's pitch black here, til Torchwood's lights throw a hard relief on the rocky wall. She flies in after, slow and steady, revealing herself to be in a huge mineshaft.

The crew wait eagerly as the ramp to the bay lowers to reveal Doctor, a working-class preacher and former crew member. He smiles as they come out to meet him "Let me in, for my feet are sore, my clothes are ragged."

The camp is but a few shacks and a working mine, as our group come down to it, greeted by a few miners, including an eight year old boy that rushes to Toshiko.

Soon the gang is sitting and eating. Comfortable, even laughing a bit. Rhys presents Doctor with a couple of cigars.

Toshiko hoists the boy on her lap.

After the meal Jax approaches Doctor on the edge of a rise overlooking the town. Jax has a bowl in each hand and chopsticks. Doctor is finishing a prayer into the valley below "Forgive what you can, and send me on my path. I will walk on, until you bid me rest."

"Hope that ain't for me, Doctor." Jax says as he settles ans offers a bowl to his old friend.

"It's prayer for the dead."

"Then I really hope it ain't for me." Jax snorts.

"It's for the men Ianto might have killed in that bar." The Doctor says sadly as he goes back over the conversation at the dinner table that had driven him away.

"Weren't Ianto that did it, you know that. Somebody decided his brain was just another piece of property to take, fenced it right up." Jax snaps.

"You got a plan?"

"Hiding ain't a plan?"

"It'll do you for a spell, and the folks here'll be glad of the extra coin..." the Doctor shrugged.

Jax finished this thought for him "but they'll be coming. Agency is after this boy with a powerful will. I look to hear the tromp of their boots any moment."

"You won't." the Doctor turned to look Jax in the eye "This isn't a palms-up military MW run, Jax. No reports broadwaved, no warrants... much as they want him, they want him hid. That means Closed File. Means an Operative, which is trouble you've not known."

"I coulda left him there." Jax mutters as he frowns and thinks to the night before, watching over the sleeping boy curled in his own bunk beside him after lights out, his mind, racing. "I had an out - hell, I had every reason in the 'verse to leave him lay and haul anchor."

"Not your way, Jax."

"I have a way?" Jax asks with surprise then considers, "Is that better than a plan?"

"You can play the thug all you want, but there's more to you than you're ever like to 'fess." The Doctor said softly, "I see the way you watch him."

"You just think that 'cause my eyes is all sorrowful and pretty." Jax jokes but they both know the truth as Jax turns to check where Ianto is without realising he is doing it, the young man sitting by his brother staring at a child with interest.

"Only one thing is gonna walk you through this, Jax. Belief."

"Sermons make me sleepy, Doctor." Jax smiles as he shakes himself and looks back to his friend "I ain't looking for help from on high. That's a long wait for a train don't come."

"When I talk about belief, why do you always assume I'm talking about God?" the Doctor demands then turns to return to his sitting stone to eat, then turns to whisper, "They'll come at you sideways."

.

.

.

.

.

.

Rose stands waiting, her back to us, in front of the very vista we first saw her before.

The Agent comes slowly up the staircase, stands before her.

.

.

.

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.

"It's how they think: sideways." The Doctor settles and sniffs at the food with interest, "It's how they move. Sidle up and smile, hit you where you're weak."

"Sorta man they're like to send believes hard. Kills and never asks why." The Doctor continues as he takes the chop sticks and chooses a morsel. He hums as he eats, Jax enjoying his own food as he wonders on his friend.

"It's of interest to me how much you seem to know about that world." Jax finally comments.

"I wasn't born the Doctor, Jax."

"Have to tell me about that some time." Jax says as he tips the bowl to finish his meal.

"No I don't." the Doctor snorts, then rises to return his own empty bowl, turning back to offer once more "Sideways."

Jax watches him go, thinking.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

The Ms Hartman from the very beginning is standing in front of Ianto, whose desktop screen depicts a single, dark planet.

"Ianto?"

Eight-year-old Ianto is working away, not paying attention.

"Ianto, you look tired. I think everybody's a little tired by now; why don't we all lie down."

Ianto looks up, scared. All the other children wordlessly get up from their seats and lie on the floor next to them.

"A little peace and quiet will make everything better." Hartman says gently as she starts to lie down herself, right on the grass.

"No..." Ianto replies without looking up from her work.

"Ianto. Do as you're told. It's going to be fine. Lie down."

" **NO!"**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

Ianto starts awake.

Jax does too, shirtless on his bunk. He looks at the waif clinging to him and pulls the blanket over his thin shoulders moments before a second ping warns him of a coms link.

"Whuh huh nuhwhat?" Jax is confused and blinks at the screen above his bed.

"Jax! You up? Got a wave. I'm a bounce it down to you." Mickey shouts and Jax grunts then, turns the screen so Ianto cannot be seen by its camera s the white noise becomes:

Rose.

Rose on Jax's screen. Just her face and she, presumably, sees the same.

"Jax. I uh, is this a bad time?" she asks.

"Good as any." He shrugs as he glances at the little eyes shining out from the blanket.

"Please tell me you're wearing pants." She sighs as she sees his furtiveness.

"Naked as the day I come cryin'." Jax grins cheekily, "How's your world?"

"Cold. It's autumn here."

"Still at the Training House?" he asks pleasantly.

"Right where you left me."

I remember it as nice enough." Jax nods, "picturesque."

"It is that. What about you?"

"Still flying. So what occasion the wave?" Jax asks still pleased, "Not that to see you ain't... well you look very…"

.

.

.

watching both Jax and Rose on the bridge screen both Martha and Mickey are surprised at their formal shyness. different screens, smiling.

Rhys enters, wondering what's up...

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

"Oh. Thank you, I... I guess we have something of a problem here. With the locals, I thought maybe..." Rose looks hopeful.

"You could use a gun hand?" Jax guesses.

"I'm hoping not. But if you were close at all, you - the crew -could take your ease here a while... and there'd be payment..." she shuffles from foot to foot showing her nervousness in asking him.

"Payment is never not a factor. I could sound out the crew... This pot like to boil over soon?" Jax asks as his head cants.

"Soon. Not right away." She replies with relief on her face.

"Well, it would be, I mean I would like to... Toshiko's been missing you something fierce –"

.

.

.

There is a general groan among the audience on the bridge, which now includes Toshiko as well...

"Oh they're so pathetic!" Toshiko mutters, "Like siblings who can't apologise for cutting the other's hair off."

.

.

.

"I miss her too. I even miss my shuttle, occasionally." Rose smiles.

"Yeah, you left a... got some of your stuff in a trunk, never did get a chance to drop it off." Jax says inanely and Rose blinks.

"Oh."

"I didn't look through the...stuff... just sundries I expect."

Rose smiles blandly, nods. An awkward beat.

"Well, it's kind of late where I'm at. I'll send a wave as soon as I can." Jax promises her as he scratches as a nipple.

"Thank you." Rose sighs, then she disappears.

Jax thinks a moment. Then he slides past the youngling now asleep again, pauses to kiss a forehead more lovingly that you might exepect and heads up to the bridge, buttoning his shirt.

"Rose. Nice to see her again." Mickey says to Rhys like they are having a real conversation, not needling Jax.

"So, trap?" Martha asks.

"Trap." Jax agrees.

Martha nods as if expecting it "We goin' in?"

"It ain't but a few hours out..." Jax shrugs.

"Yeah, but, remember the part where it's a trap?" Mickey gapes at him.

"If that's the case, then Rose's already caught in it. She wouldn't set us up willing. Might be we got a shot at seeing who's turning these wheels. We go in." Jax tells him calmly, patting his shoulder.

"How can you be sure Rose don't just wanna see you? Sometimes people have feelings - I'm referring here to people..." Toshiko starts and Jax cuts her off with a noise in his throat.

"Y'all were watching, I take it."

Guilty glances.

"Yes" Toshiko sighs.

"You see us fight?" Jax asks with his eyebrows raised.

"No."

Jax nods, shrugging as he smiles at them like he's excited.

"Trap."


	13. Chapter 13

**13**

The ship moves gracefully over the mountains.

"We're about seventy miles from the Training house. And nobody on radar... if the Agency is about, they're laying low." Martha says as she flips some switches, Mickey in the other seat checking screens.

"They're about. Find us a home." Jax says calmly, "I'll take the shuttle in closer. Martha, ship is yours."

He starts out, turns back to Martha. "Remember: if anything happens to me, or you don't hear from me within the hour... you take this ship and you come and rescue me."

"What? And risk my ship?"

"Your ship?I mean it. It's cold out there." Jax is suddenly serious, "I don't wanna get left."

Torchwood is nestled in a gorge, overhanging rocks all but burying her from view. The shuttle on the right lifts off from the side of the ship and glides off, keeping low.

.

.

.

A line of young trainees files by in robes and red shawls pulled over their heads - one trainee a good deal larger than the others.

Rose is in her chambers still.

She is kneeling in front of a statue of Buddha, lighting a few incense sticks.

The room is sparsely lush - not as opulent as the shuttle where she entertained men, but still beautifully furnished and draped. A lace curtain hangs in front of the light, casting its pattern in shadow over everything. Including the rather large figure in a red shawl who kneels beside Rose.

"Dear Buddha, please send me a pony, and a plastic rocket, and –"

Rose blinks as Jax talks in a silly falsetto voice behind the shawl "Jax! What are you doing here?"

"You invited me."

"I never thought for a second you'd be stupid enough to come!" she hisses.

"Well that makes you kind of a tease, doesn't it?" Jax says with mock horror.

"You knew my invitation wasn't on the level"

"Which led me to the conclusion that you must be in some trouble." Jax replies in a sing-song voice.

"I'm fine! I'm. giddy."

"For a woman schooled in telling men what they wanna hear, you ain't much of a liar." He snorts.

"Jax, you cannot handle this man."

"I have to say, I'm impressed that you would come for her yourself." A voice says behind them as the Agent steps onto the prayer mat, "And that you would make it this far in that outfit."

"I can be very graceful when I need to." Jax defends with pride.

"I've no doubt." The Agent shows rare amusement at this strange man's display.

Jax sheds his shawl and robe. Rose kneels at the alter, picks out another incense stick.

"What are you doing?" Jax asks her.

"I'm praying for you, Jax."

"That's very thoughtful." The Agent croons, "But I mean it when I say you're not in any danger."

"Speak your piece." Jax demands.

"I think you're beginning to understand how dangerous Ianto Jones is." The Agent points out and Jax nods.

"He is a mite unpredictable. Mood swings, of a sort." He agrees.

"It's worse than you know." The Agent sighs.

"It usually is." Jax says agreeably.

"That boy will rain destruction down on you and your ship. He's an albatross, Captain."

"Way I remember it, albatross was a ship's good luck... til some idiot killed it." Jax says, turning to Rose, "Yes, I've read a poem. Try not to faint."

The Agent moves further into the room. Whenever he moves, Jax counters.

"I've seen your war record. I know how you must feel about the Agency." The Agent intones.

Jax grimaces "You really don't."

"Fair to say. But I have to hope you understand you can't beat us." The Agent moves closer.

"I got no need to beat you. I just wanna go my way." Jax sighs.

"And you can do that, once you let me take the boy back home. Give me the opportunity to help you." The Agent offers as if he is helping.

"All I gotta do is let you take one more thing away from me. I've had a lot of things taken in my time. And it may just be that this is one too many." Jax whispers.

"This psychotic, potentially murderous boy who can't have the slightest awareness of your protection. This is where you "draw the line"." The Agent scoffs with surprise.

"Well I'm a whimsical soul." Jax shrugs as if surprised at himself as well.

"There's a number of lives that hang in the balance here. Lives under your care. Are they as whimsical as yourself?"

"I got no notion that I'm being heroical at all. Any more than I think you're really just a harmless bureaucrat come to help me out. You move like a killer." Jax replies in a bored tone.

The Agent is stopped by this. Unhappily, he warns Jax "I have a warship in deep orbit, Captain. We locked on to Torchwood's pulse beacon the moment you hit atmo. I can speak a word and send a missile to that exact location inside of three minutes."

Jax pulls a small device, clipped wires sticking out all around it, and tosses it to The Agent. "You do that, best make peace with your dear and fluffy lord."

"Pulse beacon." The Agent says with admiration.

"Advice from an old tracker: you wanna find someone, use your eyes." Jax smiles.

"How long do you think you can really run from us?"

"Oh, a Jax-rabbit, me? Jax snorts, "Sides, I never credited the Agency with an over-abundance of brains. And if you're the best they got..."

"Captain Harkness, I should tell you so that you don't waste your time: You can't make me angry." The Agent smiles angelically.

"Oh please. Spend an hour with him." Rose mutters.

Jax smiles - then glares at Rose, mouthing "Hey!"

"I need him, Captain. Ianto is...my purpose and I will gather him to me. The brother as well. Whatever else happens is incidental. In the greater scheme."

"Why is it that the greater scheme always makes everything not that great?" Jax asks. "What if I need him too?"

"I want to resolve this like civilized men. I'm not threatening you. I'm unarmed." The Agent throws his arms wide to prove it.

"Great!" Jax smiles then he draws and shoots The Agent in the chest. The Operative goes down as Jax grabs Rose, moves for the-doorway.

The Agent is on him in a second, choke-hold from behind as he snarls, "I am of course wearing full body armour. I'm not a moron."

He tosses Jax hard against a wall, spinning and blocking a blow from Rose - she is clearly trained in martial arts, but he flat-heels her to the ground within seconds.

Jax is going for his gun again, turning, and The Agent kicks him in the face, sends him back, gun flying. Jax gets to his feet and they square off. Jax breathing hard, nose dripping blood. The Agent perfectly poised, waiting.

"No back up? We're making an awful ruckus..." Jax frowns as he cants his head as if listening.

"They'll come when they're needed." The Agent assures him.

"I'd start whistling." Jax advises as he stretches like he is about to wrestle.

"Captain, what do you think is going to happen here?"

They come at each other. The Agent seems the much better trained - he's fluid, his blows sparse and deadly.

Jax is more bluster and determination, and The Agent's precision is wearing Jax down.

Jax punches wild - The Agent counters with a spin-kick to the head that sends Jax to the ground not far from Rose, breathing hard. He tries to rise again, painfully, but Rose places her hand on his arm.

The Agent goes to his briefcase by the door, pulls out his sword. His face has taken on that remote kind of fascination as he looks at it.

"Nothing here is what it seems." The Agent says in a dreamlike voice.

"I know." Rose answers.

"He's not the plucky hero. The Agency isn't some evil empire. This isn't the grand arena." The Agent looks down at her.

Rose smiles back "And that's not incense."

He turns to look: the incense stick burns away - rather like a fuse - and FLASHES in an explosion of light and sound.

It's a flash-bomb: The Agent sails back as everything goes smoky white and the sound dies to a tiny buzz.

The Agent tries to get his bearings - and four armoured soldiers are in his face, asking him for orders...Jax and Rose are gone.


	14. Chapter 14

**14**

The Agent motions for the men to follow them.

"Just a flash bomb. Go! Go!" he roars with rage.

Rose leads Jax(who is reholstering his gun) down some steps and along a corridor. The sound is still tinny and weird. "I had him..."

"What?" she says distractedly.

Jax yells deafly loud "I think that I was winning!"

Jax and Rose move quickly down the mountain. They look to see that Jax's shuttle has four Agency guards waiting by it. Jax ducks back out of sight, pulls a fancy-looking grenade out of his pocket. Pops the top and hurls it over at the foursome.

A series of bars of light on the side of it go out one by one, counting down -

"Grenade!" one yells as he finally sees it.

Everybody dives for cover. The moment they do, Jax and Rose race into the shuttle, Jax sweeping up the grenade just as the last light goes out and nothing happens.

One soldier turns to look and Jax shoots him back down as the door shuts on him and Rose.

Rose pushes into the pilot's seat. "Hang on to something."

"You sure you remember how it…" Jax nearly falls over as the shuttle shoots straight up, spinning and heading out.

Rose stares straight ahead, relaxing her grip on the controls.

Jax is gone.

"I told you to hang on." She rolled her eyes as she looks at her feet.

"I'm fine..." Jax groans painfully.

They are in the belly of Torchwood as her bay doors are closing, six little objects floating out of her belly like roe.

These objects are roughly the size of beer-kegs, and clearly home-made, parts welded together almost haphazardly. They all spark silently to life - and shoot off in six different directions, as Torchwood herself fires up her Firefly effect and burns away.

.

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.

The Agent sips tea and rubs his temple.

"Forget the pulse beacon, there has to be another way to track the ship - get a read on the nav sat. It's a registered transport, you must be able to locate…"

"Sir?" a soldier interrupts his ponderings.

"Have you found a nav sat trajectory?" he asks hopefully.

"Sir... we've found seven."

The Agent looks more unhappy than angry as he whispers to himself, "Does he think this is a game?"

 **.**

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 **.**

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Ms Hartman and students sleep as Ianto - as we saw him in the institute, older, with blood seeping from the needle-holes in his head - makes his way through them.

Slowly he walks to the floating lecture screen. On it is the solar system, glowing lines connecting all the stars and planets. He becomes wide-eyed, breathing hard as it pushes in to one system, one planet...

He looks over to one side of the tent, and sees a lab. There stand some five older men in formal dress. They stare at him, impassive.

We see flashes of corpses, lying in houses, in city streets - and a Muncher's screaming face –And Ianto awakens.

A moment to get his bearings, then his eyes narrow with intent.

.

.

.

.

.

"We have every reason to be afraid." Rose is arguing as she slaps her hands on the table in the eating area.

"Why, 'cause this guy beat up Jax?" Rhys snorts, "That ain't so hard"

"He didn't beat me up" Jax defends himself with annoyance.

"Because he's a believer." Rose ignores their banter as she looks at Martha who is listening intently with Mickey leaning on the back of her chair.

 _As Rose continues, we see: Andy and Pandy, tied to chairs. Light spills onto their bruised faces as The Agent enters._

"He's intelligent, methodical and devout in his belief that killing Ianto is the right thing to do." She continues. "I honestly think the only reason we haven't been blown out of the air is that he needs to see him."

"Needs to see him why?" Owen asks.

"I'm uncertain. I would say to be sure of the kill, but... I just know he'll kill us all to get to him."

"So no hope of a reward, huh?" Rhys sighs.

"Did he mention a deal of any kind?" Rose asks.

"Give the two of them up. Go my way." Jax says expressionlessly.

"Which you was all ready to do not a day ago. What went sour?" Rhys asks with open annoyance.

"Cutting them loose ain't the same as handing them over." Jax argues.

"That so?" Rhys snaps back "Cause the corpse I'm about to become is having trouble telling the difference."

Owen turns to Rose, "Did he say anything about a "Hallett"?"

"What is that?" Rose asks with interest.

"Don't know who or what, but it's on Ianto's mind. Conjure it might be the reason he's after him."

Rose leans forward "You think maybe it poses some kind of threat to the Agency?"

"Do we care? Are we caring about that?" Mickey throws his arms up as he is now clearly lost in the conversations.

"You dumbass hogs, the only people he's a threat to is us on this boat!" Rhys roars.

.

.

.

Ianto is near the ceiling, keeping himself up in a split again, feet against the walls. There is a wire mesh cover to the light, and he has bent part of it out, is working it inside the lock of his shackles.

Like always, he is about to wander off in search of Jax.

"Look, we get back to Haven in a few hours time" Jax tries to soothe.

"Hiding under the Doctor's skirts, that's a manful scheme" Rose sneers.

"You wanna run this ship?" Jax offers.

"Yes!" Rhys answers quickly.

"Well you can't!" Jax crows like a three year old.

"Do a damn sight better job'n you. Getting us lashed over a couple of strays..." Rhys growls, then turns to Owen, "No offense, Doc, I think it's noble as a grape the way you look to Ianto, but he ain't my brother."

He turns back to Jax, "and he ain't your crew. Oh, and neither is he exactly helpless! So where's it writ we gotta lay down our lives for him, which is what you've steered us toward."

"I didn't start this." Jax places his hands on his chest with a look of innocence.

"No, the Agency starts the war - and then you volunteer. Battle of Torchwood, Jax: besides Martha here, how many …" Rhys is crowing and Jax turns away, "- I'm talkin' at you - how many men in your platoon came out of there alive?"

Jax stares at him.

"You wanna leave this room." Martha snarls in a deadly tone we've not heard before.

"You're damn right I do." Rhys huffs. He stalks upstairs. There's a quiet moment.

"This isn't the war, Jax." Rose says softly and Jax turns, eyeing her.

"Are you telling me that because you think I don't know?"

"You came to the training house looking for a fight." Rose accuses.

"I came looking for you." Jax sighs.

"I just want to know who I'm dealing with. I've seen too many versions of you to be sure." She seems to be begging.

"I start fighting a war I guarantee you'll see something new." Jax declares with finality as he walks out into the cargo bay, Rose following.

"We'll get off. Ianto and I'll get off at Haven and find some…" Owen is saying back at the table.

"Nobody's saying that." Toshiko says sadly.

"Nobody besides Rhys is saying that." Mickey corrects her.


	15. Chapter 15

**15**

Rose tries to catch up to Jax in the cargo bay as he strides along showing his anger in his walk, "Jax!"

"I got no answers for you, Rose." Jack hisses as he turns to face her, "I got no rudder. Wind blows 40 northerly, I go north. That's who I am. Maybe that ain't a man to lead but they have to follow so you wanna tear me down do it inside your own mind."

"I'm not trying to tear you down" she cries but he cuts her off.

"But you fog things up. You always have sister, you spin me about. I wish like hell you was elsewhere."

"I was." She says sadly as her brother turns from her and starts pulling at his hair like he did when they were children. She starts to realise she is not the only secret on this boat he is keeping form his crew.

Something has him twisted every which way.

.

.

.

.

Rhys is looking at the storage locker door. A beat.

He moves to the aft hall, shuts and locks the door. Goes back to the locker and starts to unlock it, pulling his gun. "No trouble now, little crazy person... we're going for a nice shuttle ride…"

He opens the door and Ianto is on him in an instant, whip blow to the throat, the nose - he fires wildly as he jumps on him, wraps his arms around his neck and topples him back - The crew enters, drawn by the shots. Jax is first - can't open the door. Looks in to see an unconscious Rhys... "The other way! Find him, and-do not engage!"

Everyone piles out the other way. Owen remains, to look in the window.

There is Rhys, not moving - and Ianto pops up right in front of him at the window. He starts, then waits as he opens the door.

"It's gonna be oka …" Owen croons but Ianto elbows his throat viciously. He drops to his knees, shocked and gasping, as he spin-kicks him to the ground. He doesn't move. He looks at him a moment, then takes off.

Jax is throwing his shoulder against the bolted door to the upstairs. He gives up, looking around.

"He's sealed off the bridge. I do not like him there." Martha warns.

"Cap'n!"

Toshiko calls as she tosses him a bolt remover. He starts pulling a bolt out of a panel on the wall, tells Martha "Check the shuttles. He coulda snuck in."

He pops the panel off and starts wriggling in among the wires.

A floor panel hinges open, Jax pulling himself up. He moves quietly to the bridge, gun drawn.

He enters to find Ianto frantically punching up coordinates on a big Cortex screen he's pulled out by the co-pilot's seat. He whips Rhys' gun at his face, never looking at him.

A moment, and Jax lowers his own gun.

"The government's man, he says you're a danger to us. Not worth helping. Is he right? Are you anything but a weapon? I've staked my crew's life on the

a … person-,…actual and whole, and if I'm wrong you'd best shoot me now." Jax informs Ianto who cocks the gun, Jax snorts, "Or we could talk more..."

Ianto is pointing to the screen "Hallett."

It's a planet.

Matches the one from his dream.

Jax drops his stance and steps over to look at the finger tapping the screen, "What is it love?"

.

.

.

.

Everyone has gathered. Mickey is piloting now, as they are in atmosphere. Ianto is by Owen. He moves restlessly in the seat, upset.

"How can it be there's a whole planet called Hallett and none of us knowed that?" Toshiko asks with confusion.

"Because there isn't one. It's a black rock. Uninhabitable. Terraforming didn't hold, or some such. Few settlers died." Jax answers her as he watches Ianto.

Ianto is trying to apologise to his brother "I had to show them. I didn't know if you were going to make me sleep."

Owen replies in a hoarse whisper "You could've asked..."

"Wait a tick, yeah!" Toshiko suddens says "Some ten years back, before the war. There was call for workers to settle on Hallett, my daddy talked about going. I should've recalled..."

"But there's nothing about it on the Cortex - History, Astronomy... it's not in there." Mickey blusters as he checks his map list again.

"Half of writing history is hiding the truth. There's something on this rock the Agency doesn't want known." Jax states with a knowledge borne of betrayals.

"That's right at the edge of the Burnham Quadrant, right?" Rose tries to remember. "Furthest planet out."

"It's not that far from here" Jax answers her.

"Whoah, no, no" Mickey explodes from the seat as he realises what is about to happen.

Martha disagrees with her mate, "That's not a bad notion"

"Honey" Mickey sighs.

"I got it, baby." She grins.

"Don't show them the bad..." Mickey starts and then slumps as the screen flickers to life.

She hits some commands on the screen, pulls back to reveal a couple of other planets near Hallett."This is us, see? And here's Hallett. All along here, this dead space in between, that's Muncher territory."

"They just float out there, sending out raiding parties" Mickey shivers with disgust.

"Maybe a hundred ships. And more every year. You go through that you're signing up to be a banquet." Martha points out.

"I'm on board with the run and hide scenario - and we are just about..." Mickey says and he looks at his monitors, looks ahead... as he changes the screen to the aft cameras and the ship swings around a mountain to come into view of the camp.

It is a world of fire.

Every building burns, some blown right apart. Bodies litter the scene, not one of them moving. There's a grounded Agency ship not far from the cannon that shot it down.

We see Jax's face as the sight hits him like a gut-punch.

.

.

.

The crew pours out even as the ramp lowers, going off in all directions, calling out to people...Toshiko heads for the burning church.

"Doctor? Doctor…Doctor!" She stops, looking at the ground by the steeple. There is the body on the ground, face down. The child she played with at dinner. Toshiko stares, at first uncomprehending.

Jax is moving in the other direction, approaches the cannon, Rhys behind him. He stops and sees Doctor, lying by the cannon, torn up badly from the waist down.

"Get the Doc." He says to Rhys as he moves to the Doctor, grabs his searching hand. "Doctor... Don't move."

"Won't go far..." the Doctor chokes out.

"Shouldn't've been you. I'm so sorry, it was... they should've hit us. They should've hit me." Jax cries as he wrings his friend's limp hand.

"That crossed my mind." The Doctor chokes, then nods, "I shot him down"

"I seen." Jax smiles proudly.

"I killed the ship... that killed us. Not... very Christian of me."

"You did what's right." Jax assures him softly.

"Coming from you, that means..." the Doctor laughes through his pain, "almost nothing... HNAAH! Ah, I'm long gone..."

"Doc'll bring you round. I look to be bored by many more sermons 'fore you slip - don't move" Jax is afraid and is shows in his face.

"Can't... order me around, boy. I'm not one of your crew."

"Yes you are." Jax sobs.

Doctor coughs up blood, grabbing Jax. Urgent, almost angry. "You... it's on you now... all this death, this shit... you have to find a course. This can't mean nothing. Ianto... you have to..."

"Come on, keep it up" Jax begs.

The Doctor grabs Jax's face, talks as though replying to something "I don't care what you believe! Just... believe it. Love...Whatever you have to..."

His breathing becomes laboured.

Hitched.

Stopped.

His hand slips away, his blood leaving a distinct print on Jax's face.

Rhys and Owen run up, Owen slowing down - going to the Doctor. "he's-dead"

Rhys looks around him, Jax still fixed on Doctor.

"How come they ain't waiting? They know'd we was coming, how come they only sent one?" Rhys wonders with confusion.

Martha realizes the answer, turns to Mickey. "Get on the Cortex. Wave the Sanchez brothers, Li Shen - anyone who's ever sheltered us after a heist. Tell them to get out. Get out now."


	16. Chapter 16

**16**

Silence.

Every Cortex screen is on, each looking at a different place.

Every one shows fire, destruction or the snow of an interrupted signal.

Jax stands alone amidst the screens, saying nothing. After a long moment, all of the screens hitch, the images replaced by identical images of The Agent. He looks solemn.

"I'm sorry. But I cannot let you hide and I cannot let you run. Things become... extreme. And we wish for another way."

"Don't talk at me like a righteous man. You are a killer of children." Jax snarls at the screen.

The Agent speaks again, "When God wanted Pharaoh to release His people from bondage – you know the story? He didn't ask. He sent his plagues down upon Egypt. That's me, Captain. The path to peace is paved with corpses. It's always been so."

"So me and mine got to lie down and exist on this world?"

"I'm not going to live there. How could you think - there's no place for me there, any more than there is for you. Jaxton, I'm a monster. What I do is evil, I've no illusions about it. But it must be done."

"Why? Do you know why?"

"It's not my place to ask." The Agent is angelic again. It really pisses Jax off.

"You will never see Ianto Jones. I'm telling you this." Jax says with syrupy sweetness.

"Maybe not. But you'll keep him close now, and when I blow Torchwood out of the air, this will be ended. You're so terribly out of your depth, Captain. Your old boat can't take the pressure."

"She ain't buckled yet. And the only reason you're talking such a lot is you can't get a fix on us." Jax can be smug as well.

"Yes, your scrambler's code is too old for our seekers. You love that, yes? The small triumph over modernity. You really are the noble savage."

"Nobody - ever - calls me noble." Jax is insulted now.

"But that's what's going to kill you, Jaxton. Nobility. It confuses your text, which is self-interest. And sin." The Agent nods.

"Only man I know who still believed in sin just died by your hand."

"What do you believe in?" the Agent is genuinely interested in this man, this…righteous man.

"Not a solitary thing." Jax shrugs.

"If that were true, you'd be nothing more than a Muncher." Something changes in Jax's expression as the man continues "But then, maybe you're not that far from…"

Jax flicks a switch and every screen goes dark.

Jax comes striding out, where the crew have been gathering bodies, laying blankets over them.

In the background he can see Ianto sitting on the Agent's downed ship's nose, riding it like a cowboy. That boy will be the death of him, but laws he is so sweet and brain shaken.

"Get these bodies together." He demands.

"We got time for grave digging?" Martha asks with raw hope.

"Martha, you and Owen are gonna rope 'em together. Five or six of 'em. I want them laid out on the nose of our ship." Jax is waving a hand at the Torchwood as he gives his orders.

"Are you insane?" Owen asks.

"What do you mean, the bodies..." Toshiko splutters with horror.

"Toshiko, I need you to muck the reactor core, just enough to leave a trail and make it read like we're flying without containment, not enough to fry us." Jax continues to speak, ignoring her.

"These people are our friends"

"Toshiko, you got a day's work to do and two hours to do it." Jax turns from her "Rhys, you and Mickey hoist up that cannon mount. Goes right on top. Piece or two of the other ship, stick it on. Any place you can tear hull without inner breach, do that too."

"And we're gonna need paint." He mutters looking around "We're gonna need red paint."

"Sir." Martha grabs his arm "Do you really mean to turn our home into an abomination so we can make a suicidal attempt at passing through Muncher space?"

"I mean to live. I mean for us to live. The Agency won't have that, so we go where they won't follow." He replies calmly.

"God's balls, there's no way we're going out there!" Rhys splutters.

And everybody (save Ianto) is talking at once:

Owen "What's the point of living if you sink to the level of a savage"

Rose "Please, we should talk this over"

Rhys "I ain't takin' orders from a man has lost his brainstem"

Mickey simply blows a raspberry.

Jax face palms, steps back, hand on his gun.

"This is how it works. Anybody doesn't wanna fly with me anymore, this is your port of harbour. There's a lot of fine ways to die. I'm not waiting for the Agency to choose mine." He walks through the group, toward the smashed cockpit of the Agency fighter. Struggling to get out is the badly wounded pilot. He sees Jax coming and raises his hands in surrender.

Jax shoots him in the head, turns back "I mean to confound those killers, and take my shot at getting to Hallett, maybe finding out what all I'm dying for. That's my theme now. So I hear a word out of any of you that ain't helping me out or taking your leave I will fucking shoot you."

He grabs a body - drops it at Martha's feet as he heads toward the ship.

He turns back as he reaches the ramp, "I don't know about you, but I have a job to do!"

Ianto kicks his feet against the hull, thud thud thud thud./

.

.

.

Bodies burn, flames passing over them and suddenly flickering out as dark falls. They are patches of leathered flesh stretched over bone - monsters, screaming soundlessly in the nothing of space.

Looking past them to the windows of the bridge, Jax is watching, with Martha behind and Mickey at the helm.

The whole of Torchwood is hardly recognizable. Charred corpses on the nose, Cannon atop with a space-suited corpse draped within, long scars, welded-on parts and war paint... the trail of green light burns out with sporadic bursts of vapour.

It looks, for all the world, like a Muncher ship.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

Jax comes down the stairs to the catwalk. He hesitates, then steps into the shuttle.

It's dark in here. Jax stands with his back to the door, no light on his face, shaking. Not crying, but overcome.

He looks up: Ianto's in the corner looking through that trunk, hands on a long oilcloth wrapped around something.

"Didn't see you." Jax croaks out and Ianto blinks as he nods to show he was aware of that. "Anything of use in there?"

Ianto puts it down and crosses to the bed. He sits by Jax.

"You don't have to hide in a shuttle, you know. There's room, if you wanna sleep awhile." Jax whispers as Ianto leans in to sniff him with interest.

Jax opens his mouth to say something but it is lost in Ianto's mouth as their lips meet and Jax is pushed back into the bedding.

Comfort is found there.

Torchwood flies, silent.


	17. Chapter 17

**17**

The crew make their way toward the bridge.

Those close enough to get a view out the window are looking freaked - those already on the bridge are stock still. Pressed up against the glass of the window is Ianto, just staring.

An armada.

The black sky is filled with what must be ninety ships in a vague cluster, as Torchwood breaks frame headed toward them. Most of them hang still in the air. Some move swimmingly about. Some turn in gentle drifts, as though looking around.

They all wait, tensed up, as they approach the armada...And arrive, moving slowly through the ranks of ships.

Torchwood passes a large, bizarrely shaped ship. It turns, as though watching her.

But lets her pass.

Another minute, and Torchwood is through the Armada, headed for the small planet just beyond.

.

.

.

The Agent stares blankly at the Ensign. "Define "disappeared"."

The Ensign just looks uncomfortable.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

Toshiko, Owen and Ianto have left the bridge. The clouds fog the windows, so nothing below is visible.

Martha is confused as she calls to Jax "Every reading I'm getting says normal. Oceans, land masses... no tectonic instability or radiation."

"Yeah, but no power, either." Mickey adds.

"Nothing at all?" Jax asks.

"Wait." Mickey suddenly cuts in "Something. Might be a beacon, but it's awful weak."

"Find it." Jax demands.

.

.

.

Torchwood touches down. After a moment Jax, Martha and Rhys emerge from the airlock in full suits, armed.

Martha reads a handheld scanner.

"Gravity's Earthnorm." Jax speaks before she can, guessing the reading she is unable to understand.

"02 levels check, pressure... if there's anything wrong the scanner isn't reading it." Martha agrees and Jax pulls off his helmet. Breathes, looking around him.

"Well something sure as hell ain't right" he mutters.

They're in a citadel.

Gleaming metal, spread out for miles in every direction. Portions decimated by fires long since cold, others overgrown with weeds, but mostly intact. But silent, as if trapped in amber.

"We flew over at least a dozen cities just as big. Why didn't we hear about this?" Rhys wonders.

"Beacon's up ahead." Jax indicates and strides forward, man on a mission.

Out of their suits now, Jax, Martha and Rhys take point as the entire crew walks along the street, looking about them.

Martha calls out and she moves rapidly, gun out, to a skeleton Face-down on the ground, clothes tattered. She examines it as Jax approaches, waving the others back. "No entry wound, fractures..."

"Poison?" Jax wonders.

"Got another one!" Rhys yells by a downed hovercraft. Inside are three skeletons: two grown-ups and a small child. Clothes in better condition, and again no sign of violence. "They's all just sittin'. Didn't crash..."

Ianto is quietly becoming more and more upset.

Toshiko walks in front of an office building, staying away from the cars as she hears Rhys bellow "Couple more here..."

The corpse of a woman is pressed up against the glass wall right behind her. Mouth open, skin dead blue, terribly skinny... a thing to haunt.

Owen sees and starts, "Toshiko... Come this way. Come here. Don't –"

But she looks and screams "GAAAAaaoh Gods!"

She steps back, horrified, as the others approach. It's an office. About half the employees are there, in chairs or on the ground, all in the same state as the first fellow.

"How come they're preserved?" Rhys turns to his Captain.

"Place must've gone hermetic when the power blew. Sealed 'em." Jax surmises.

"What're they doing?" Toshiko sobs softly "What's everybody doing?"

Owen is against the glass looking at them with a clinical eye, "There's no discoloration, nobody's doubled over or showing signs of pain..."

"There's gasses that kill painless, right?" Jax asks him.

"But they didn't fall down. None of them. They just lay down." Rose points out as she looks at one curled in the foetal position on the floor.

"More than anything, it looks like starvation." Owen is confused too.

"Anybody want to bet there's plenty of food around?" Jax calls out.

"They just lay down..." Rose whispers.

They notice Ianto now, in the middle of the street, keening.

He drops to his knees, clutching his head.

As he speaks we see, as he sees... bodies. In homes, in piles: an entire world, gently dead.

"Make them stop, they're everywhere, every city every house every room, they're all inside me, I can hear them all and they're saying nothing! GET UP! PLEASE, GET THEM UP! , please Gods make me a stone..."

"He's starting to damage my calm." Rhys growls.

"Rhys" Martha warns.

"He's right! Everybody's dead! This whole world is dead for no reason!" Rhys cries as he turns in a slow circle seeing what Ianto does for the first time. And he is ready to piss himself.

Mickey is unnerved as well and speaks up "Let's get to the beacon."

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

It's small - landing is easier in cities with flying vehicles. At the end of a short runway, tipped and damaged, is an Agency Research Vessel. The gang makes its way towards it.

It's a mess, doors pried open, signs of violence but no bodies. The gang walks through it, looking around.

Ianto pulls away from Owen, suddenly determined. He approaches a console, and a small cylindrical object. He turns it slightly – a hologram squawks to life amidst them all. First we see images that resemble the flashes from Ianto's mind: Corpses, everywhere. We hear and then see Doctor Mary standing exactly where she was when she recorded this message...

(As she speaks, we see angles of everyone watching, taking it in.. Ianto silently mouths every word.)

"- just a few of the images we've recorded, and you can see it isn't.. it isn't what we thought. There's been no war here, and no terraforming event. The environment is stable. It's the Pax, the G-32 Paxilon Hydroclorate that we added to the air processors. It's..."

She stops talking as she starts to weep, then continues to speak.

"well it works... it was supposed to calm the population, weed out aggression. Make a peaceful... it worked. The people here stopped fighting. And then they stopped everything else. They stopped going to work, stopped breeding... talking... eating...There's thirty million people here and they all just let themselves die. They didn't even kill themselves. They just... most starved. When they stopped working the power grids, there were overloads, fires – people burned to death sitting in their chairs. Just sitting."

There is a loud bang somewhere behind her - she starts, gathers herself.

"I have to be quick. There was no one working the receptors when we landed, so we hit pretty hard. We can't leave. We can't take any of the local transports because..."

The bang again.

"There are people... they're not people... about a tenth of a percent of the population had the opposite reaction to the Pax. Their aggressor response increased... beyond madness. They've become …they've killed most of us... not just killed, they've done...things."

"Munchers..." Mickey says quietly with growing horror "they made them..."

"I won't live to report this, and we haven't got power to... people have to know... We meant it for the best... to make people safer... to... God!"

She whirls, grabs a gun and fires - then aims the gun at her own head - but a Muncher is on her, knocks the gun away and bites her face –

She screams continuously as the Muncher tops her, biting at her and tearing at her clothes, at her skin.

"Turn it off." Rhys chokes and Mickey does, nobody saying anything.

Jax walks outside.


	18. Chapter 18

**18**

Jax takes a few unsteady steps away from the vessel. Rose appears behind him, follows - he holds a hand out behind him, seemingly to make her stop, but then he grabs her shoulder, holds her for support. She puts her hand over his.

"I seen so much death..." Jax gasps "I been on fields carpeted with bodies, friends and enemies - I seen men and women blown to messes no further from me than you."

"Jax"

"But every single one of those people died on their feet. Fighting. Or, hell, running away – doing summat to get through. This is..."

"Jax, I need your help with this. I need you to help me, because I can't…" Rose sobs and he looks at her, folds her into his arms. Brings her face to his, pressing their cheeks together with the urgency of pulsing, necessary life.

He holds his little sister.

Ianto falls to his knees, vomiting. Owen goes to him, puts his hand on his back, and lets him ride it out. "Ianto..."

"I'm all right." Ianto looks at him, wet eyes full of clarity. "I'm all right."

Mickey pulls the recording cylinder out of the console.

.

.

.

.

 **TORCHWOOD - DINING ROOM - NIGHT**

The cylinder is on the table.

Jax stands at the head, looking at his crew. "This report is maybe twelve years old. Parliament buried it, and it stayed buried til Ianto dug it up. This is what they feared he knew. And they were right to fear, 'cause there's a universe of folk that are gonna know it too."

Jax touches the cylinder " They're gonna see it. Somebody has to speak for these people."

He pauses. Everyone waits.

"You all got on this boat for different reasons, but you all come to the same place. So now I'm asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. 'Cause as sure as I know anything I know this: They will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground, swept clean. A year from now, ten, they'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more running. I aim to misbehave."

There is a beat as he eyes them all.

"My grandma always told me: if you can't do something smart, do something right." Rhys said and by way of emphasis he loudly cocks his big-ass rifle.

Jax takes in the fact that Rhys has spoken for them all. "That the same grandma told you there was an evil dwarf spirit living in your well?"

"She was a fun grandma."

"Do we have a plan?" Owen asks.

"Eugene." Jax nods, "We haven't the equipment to broadwave this code, but he can put it on every screen for thirty worlds. He's pretty damn close, too."

"Based on our orbital trajectories, he reached optimum proximity just before our sunset. If we make a direct run within the hour we're only 67,332 miles out. At full burn we'd reach him inside of three hours" Ianto calmly informs them, he doesn't notice the reactions to his sudden clarity - he's still somewhat in his own world.

"Still got the Munchers, and probably the Agency between us and him." Mickey points out after they all stare at Ianto for a while.

Martha agrees **"** It's a fair bet the Agency knows about Eugene. They're gonna see this coming."

"No." Jax says to them all sternly. He takes a long moment, his jaw tightening imperceptibly. "They're not gonna see this coming."

Torchwood's jet engines whine, as they fire up.

Torchwood is taking off, leaving the dead place behind.

.

.

.

.

Eugene is talking with Jax and Mickey again, very animated. **"** It's no problem! Bring it on bring it on bring it on! From here to the eyes and ears of the 'verse, that's my motto, or it might be if I start having a motto."

"We won't be long." Jax assures him.

"You're gonna get caught in the ion cloud, it'll play merry hob with your radar, but pretty pretty lights and a few miles after you'll be right in my orbit."

"You'll let us know if anyone else comes at you?" Jax asks on the screen as Eugene shifts in his chair.

The Agent and ten soldiers are in the room, visible to Eugene but not to the screen.

"You'll be the first." Eugene assures him as he tries to ignore the Agent's sword, as he unsheathes it.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

They are amongst the Muncher armada. Torchwood slices quietly through the ships, as we come around and see Hallett receding in the distance.

Torchwood drifts through the armada - and suddenly another ship fires up, running next to her...The two ships pace each other, another vessel coming about as though staring at Torchwood, who comes closer and closer, till we see the suited corpse draped on the cannon.

It suddenly moves: it's Jax.

He swings the cannon round and fires at the ship pacing them.

It explodes, fragmenting into burning bits that spiral into other ships, causing two smaller ones to blow as well.

Jax swings around and fires at another ship.

In close orbit waits the Agency force, at least fifty strong, and clearly with high tech firepower. The Unit Agent's ship, in the middle of the cluster.

As The Unit Agent waits with the others a helmsman speaks. "I'm reading activity in the cloud."

"Lock and fire on my command." The Agent commands, then says quietly to the cosmos, "You should have let me see him. We should have done this as men. Not with fire..."

"Sir!"

The swirling Ion cloud is on screen as Torchwood breaks through and heads at us, fully Munchered out. The Agent looks confused, then smiles at the ruse. Hits the com: "Vessel in range, lock on...Bastard's not even changing course..." he notes with a hint of admiration for his advisory.

As Torchwood get a bit closer, fifty or sixty Muncher vessels suddenly burst from the cloud, also heading straight at them.

The Agent - and everyone around him - goes big-eyed.

"That's not good..."

"Sir?"

"Target the Munchers!" he screams as he turns to look at his stunned crew "Target the Munchers! Target everyone! Somebody FIRE!"

Torchwood suddenly lists hard to port - until she's almost upside down - the Agency ships FIRE, missing Torchwood but tagging a few Muncher ships, none of whom have slowed down - Jax is back on the bridge as he looks out at the upside down Agency fleet, missiles just passing them – "We're too close for them to arm"

"This is gonna be very tight" Martha grinds out.

Rhys enters and pauses as he looks out the window "Hey look, we're upside down."

Martha and Jax shoot a look at Rhys.

"I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar." Mickey whispers to himself.

Torchwood slips right under The Unit Agent's ship and ducks and weaves between dozens more. The Muncher force hits the Agency head on - and several ships do just that, smashing into bigger ships kamikaze-style, everything exploding -The fleet mobilizes, blasting Muncher ships, circling around, and an air war begins, a frenzied, balletic ecstasy of destruction that they hurtle through as ships and parts of ships fly at and past.

Torchwood nearly makes it all the way through the agency fleet before a barrelling chunk of debris - which is twice their size - forces them to come hard about and remain in the fray.

Jax looks out at the chaos... "Chickens come home to roost"

They are suddenly JOLTED by a glancing blow from another ship - Mickey struggles to control her -

"The hell" Jax yells as he grabs for the bulkhead.

"It's okay!" Mickey squeals with panic "I am a leaf on the wind!"

"What does that mean?" Jax yells back with equal panic.

Torchwood makes her way past the carnage and heads down toward the tiny satellite moon.

.

.

.

As the vessel shakes, clearly breached, The Agent moves to a door marked: DART. He puts his thumb to a panel and the door slides up to reveal a standing, almost formfitting one- man cockpit.

The Dart disengages and bullets down towards the surface. As it moves from The Unit Agent's ship, we see that a Muncher vessel has smashed into the main viewshield, and the ship is spinning, explosions popping silently all over it.

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.

.

Torchwood continues down, the metallic expanse of Eugene's little moon complex sprawling below them. A moment after Torchwood blows through frame, so does a Muncher ship.

It fires an electronic pulse at Torchwood and sparks fly.

"We're fried! I got no control!" Mickey yells as he struggles with the dead stick.


	19. Chapter 19

**19**

Sparks - and arcs of electricity - are everywhere here. Toshiko jumps back as she is electrocuted - Owen runs in and pulls her out, slams the door shut on the erupting fires.

"Where's the back up? Where's the back up?" Jax yells.

He and Mickey are frantically flipping buttons - the ship whirs to a semblance of life - -

"Back up reads at 20%.." Martha calls out to her husband "Can you get us down?"

"I'm gonna have to glide her in!" he says calmly.

"Will that work?" Martha glances over at him with open worry.

"Long as that landing strip is made of fluffy pillows..." Mickey shrugs back.

Jax flips a switchs for main coms "Everybody to the upper decks! Strap yourselves to something!"

We can see it, a long strip, which halfway along becomes a kind of hanger. Torchwood arcs at it uncomfortably fast.

Mickey is fighting the stick with extreme concentration as Martha pulls out a seat as well, straps in.

Rhys, Owen and Rose pull harnesses not unlike "Batman the Ride" seats from the ceiling, help the others in.

And Torchwood HITS the ground - the landing gear folds and snaps under the weight - the ship keeps going, now inside the hanger, heading towards the entrance to the facility, slowing, fishtailing and coming about a full one eighty – it goes beyond the strip and crashes down into the pedestrian area, so that the nose is sticking back out at the runway but the body of the ship is hidden from it.

There is a moment of quiet.

"I am a leaf on the wind." Mickey sighs with relief "Watch…"

A massive harpoon CRASHES through the windshield and Ianto is suddenly there yanking him from his chair. It's as thick around as a telephone pole.

Mickey has time to open his mouth in surprise that he is not dead before yelling starts.

"Mickey!" Martha moves to him and grabs in to her as Ianto wraiths back into the bowels of the vessel, Jax looks back at him with shock.

"Gotta go!" Jax rips them away and to the floor as another projectile slams through the window into the wall above them.

We see the ship that has fired the harpoons as Munchers start out of it. A second Muncher vessel enters frame from above, about to land next to it.

The cargo bay door opens - just the little door housed inside the ramp - and Rhys comes out with his biggest gun.

He looks up, toward the edge of the runway, but no Munchers have arrived yet. "Go!"

The entire crew piles out, all heavily laiden with weapons.

"Head inside!" Jax orders as they start to run.

A small double-sized doorway leads to the "Black Room", which is the entrance proper to the facility.

Jax hits a button and huge, thick, blast doors open from the sides and the top and bottom, creating the effect of a square hole getting bigger. The hall itself is smaller than the black room, but still has the arrows on the ceiling, that point to an elevator some fifty feet away.

"Come on." Jax yells as they enter "Rhys, rearguard."

Martha slows, looking around her."Sir. This is a good hold point"

"We all stay together" Jax barks.

"No. They have to come through here; they'll bottleneck and we can thin 'em out. We get pushed back there's the blast doors." She argues as Mickey carries a box of ammo past.

"I can rig 'em so they won't re-open once they close." Toshiko says with more confidence that she feels given the look on her face.

"Then shut 'em and hide til…"Jax argues.

Martha cuts him off as she steps into his personal space, "We need to draw them til it's done. This is the place. We'll buy you the time."

Rhys speaks to Mickey as they carry more weapons in "Move those crates back there for cover - and make sure they ain't filled with anything goes boom."

"Move the gorram crates! Come on!" Rhys yells as we hear savage screaming from the hanger - they're approaching. Jax moves to the door, Rhys beside him.

Munchers rush toward them.

Jaxk turns to Rhys. "Tell me you brought 'em this time"

Rhys smiles grimly, tosses Jax a grenade as he pops his own and fastballs it at the Munchers.

It explodes in their midst, smoke and man-parts flying about. Jax rolls his a shorter distance, then slams the door shut.

It explodes, raining a bunch of equipment - and part of a catwalk - right in front of the door.

In the black room, the door nearly buckles from the explosion. Everyone takes positions behind the crates. Martha stands calmly, her back to the door, loading her sawed-off. Jax glances at her as he moves back "Martha... are you OK here?"

She looks up at him. "Do the job, sir."

"You hold. Hold till I'm back." Jax orders and he takes off - passes Ianto, the two of them holding a look for as long as they can as hands brush. Then he's in the elevator and gone.

Rhys moves over to Martha. "Captain's right. Can't be thinking on revenge if we're gonna get through this. The ship will sail again."

"You really think any of us are gonna get through this?" She asks as she looks over at her husband currently helping load weapons.

He looks back at their army: A pilot, companion, a doctor, a mechanic and a more-than-usually freaked out Ianto.

A beat, and he looks back at Martha with forlorn hope "I might..."

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

The elevator stops and Jax makes his way to the island of screens and machines in the centre of the space.

The first thing he takes in is that every broadwave port has been destroyed.

The second… Eugene is lying dead, eyes open, half draped on his equally still lovebot. A trail of blood shows he crawled from his chair.

Jax comes close. Nothing. He starts to move away again and the lovebot Gwen turns her head, her eyes focusing with an audible whir. She speaks with surprisingly realistic expressiveness, and a warped, computery version of Eugene's voice.

"Jax." Jax stops and turns to look at her, noticing a gap in her teeth for the first time "Guy killed me, Jax. He killed me with a sword. How weird is that? I got... a short span here... they destroyed my equipment but I have a back-up unit... bottom of the complex, right over the generator. Hard to get to. I know they missed it. They can't stop the signal, Jax. They can never stop the signal."

She turns back, powering down.

Recording over.

A beat, and Jax takes off.


	20. Chapter 20

**20**

Rose is on her knees, unwrapping the oilcloth we saw Ianto with from the shuttle. Ianto is in the corner, clutching his head.

"I can't shut them up..." Ianto whimpers.

"It's okay..." Owen tries to comfort him.

"They're all made up of rage." Ianto gasps "I can't..."

A BANG as a body slams against the door.

"Just stay low. I'm right here." Owen assures him even as he looks more than terrified as well.

Rhys moves past them to Martha, takes position by her.

"Rhys and I take the first wave." Martha is on control as she calls to the team "Nobody shoots less they get past our fire."

Owen moves to Toshiko, who is shaky as hell. The bangs on the door continue.

"Oh, I didn't plan on going out like this. I think we did right, but..." Toshiko says to him quietly.

"I never planned... anything. I just wanted to keep Ianto safe. Spent so much time on Torchwood trying to find us a home I never realized I already had." Owen replies.

She looks at him with soft surprise.

"My one true regret in all this is never being with you." Owen sighs.

Toshiko blinks as she gapes at him "With me? You mean to say, as, sex?"

"I mean to say." Owen says softly as his hand brushes her arm.

Toshiko snaps her cartridge home with way more precision than we might expect from her, takes steady aim at the door. "Hell with this. I'm gonna live. We both are and I'm gonna wreak you!"

Owen looks at her a moment, then turns his attention to the door.

Rose comes up with the contents of the oilcloth: a bow and arrow, which she pulls back with focused grace.

The door starts to come off its hinges.

.

.

.

A panel is kicked in from the ceiling and The Agent drops down, having clearly entered from a different location.

He looks around, carrying a laser-pistol. He moves past Mr Universe and Gwen "Guy killed me, Jax."

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Jax has reached the generator room and surveys the situation.

Before him is a railing, and he can look down on the generator shaft. It's miles deep, with machines rotating and grinding, and arcs of electricity ricocheting around it.

On the other side is a platform, with the broadwave console sitting behind a clear plastic partition. Cables and chains run along the ceiling, around a series of ladder rungs.

"Hard to get to" Jax snorts "That's a fact."

.

.

..

.

The door is pried partially open - enough for one Muncher to squeeze through and charge.

Martha stands up and shoots him in the head. He arcs back hard as the second comes, Martha shoots him, calmly walking toward the door -

"Martha... Goddamn it..." Mickey roars but she is in a trance, and we see beneath the calm, to the bubbling magma of rage that keeps her firing, single shots, each one a kill, till five men down and she's out of ammo.

The sixth comes at her swinging a blade and she blocks, the precision of military training still in her as she flips him, wresting the blade free and swinging it down out of frame, bringing it up bloody, swinging again as the door bursts open and she's rushed from behind - But Mickey totes an automatic, sprays killing fire on the lot, moving forward himself -

"MARTHA!" Rhys roars "Get yer ass back in the line!"

She looks up, almost confused - and one of Rhys' targets comes back off the ground and slices at her back with a blade, she screams as he cuts deep - and an arrow lodges in his neck. Mickey grabs for her as he looks back to the line and Rhys who is still signalling to them.

Rose pulls up a fresh arrow, shaking only slightly.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **BASEMENT, OVER THE GENERATOR - LATER**

Jax is on the railing, reaching for the 'rungs' on the ceiling just above him. He can almost get them - one wrong move and he pitches into the jaws of death...A laser shot nails him in the lower back - he arches, legs sliding off the rail - he falls and hits the rail with the backs of his legs, flipping painfully onto his face as he falls, mercifully, back onto the platform.

The Agent comes around some equipment for a closer shot as Jax gets shakily up. "Shot me in the back. I haven't...made you angry, have I?"

"There's a lot of innocent people in the air being killed right now." The Agent informs him.

"You have no idea how true that is." Jax responds and there's no wise-ass attitude in him now. They stand, facing off at ten paces. "I know the secret now. The truth that burned up Ianto Jones' brain and set you after him. And the rest of the 'verse is gonna know it too. 'Cause they need to."

The Agent hesitates as he cants his head "You really believe that?

"I do."

"You willing to die for that belief?" the Agent asks calmly.

"I am."

The Agent raises his gun – but Jax is the quick draw master, shoots the gun out of The Agent's hand and gets two hits to the chest (armored) before he makes it to cover.

"Of course," Jax says conversationally "that ain't exactly the plan"

He drops out his cartridge and slams another in.

The Agent hides behind some machinery. Tries to peek out at Jax- and more shots send him scrambling back to cover.

Jax holsters his gun and jumps for the rung above him, starts going hand over hand to the island, moving as fast as he can.

The Agent sees his moment, dives for his gun - but it's been ruined by Jax's shot. He looks over at Jax with death in his eyes. He runs at the railing, vaults off it, and grabs a chain - it snaps and he swings, grabbing another.

He reaches Jax and double kicks him from behind –Jax flies off the rung but grabs a chain - he tries to kick at the Operative, but the guy is frikkin' Tarzan, he climbs up and pulls a lever releasing one end of Jax's chain – Jax goes swinging, smacks into the wall six feet below the platform.

He scrambles up just as The Unit Agent swings himself toward the platform from above.

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Rhys is still firing continuously as Mickey drags Martha back to the barricades. Owen moves to help - Toshiko firing now, squinting with effort - and pulls open the cut back of Martha's shirt, checks the wound. "Spine's intact"

"Just gimme a bandage." Martha snarls as she weakly fumbles for another gun.

Owen pulls a spray can from his bag, sprays the wound with a foam that hardens instantly into an elastic covering.

Martha snarls as she turns to watch her husband take her place at the line.

Gods she loves that man.

They are all gonna die, at least they go together.


	21. Chapter 21

**21**

There are a few gun shots (as well as nail-balls and blades) from the Munchers. Rhys switches weapons, tossing another to Martha and opening fire as he yells at them "Oh, now you're likin' guns, huh? Cheaters!"

He takes a hit in the shoulder, grimaces and keeps firing.

Ianto watches, the gun limp in his hand.

Toshiko grabs it and starts another round - but she's peppered with dart-like projectiles. She screams and drops the weapon, pulling the projectiles from her - Rose helps her up, pulls her back as Martha shouts "Everybody fall back! Fall back!"

Everyone stumbles or is dragged into the inner corridor.

Rose hits the controls and the doors start to close, from each side and above and below. Then, when the hole is maybe four by four, they stop.

"Rhys! Grenade!" Martha yells as she regains enough footing to fire again.

"Very last one..." He tosses it through the hole. Martha doesn't even flinch from the blast as she thinks.

"They're gonna get in" she mutters as she tries to find a solution.

"Can close it... from outside..." Toshiko pants with pain as she writhes in Owen's arms.

"No one's coming back from that" Martha snaps as she tries to stand, fails. "How much ammo do we have?"

"We got three full cartridges and my swingin' cod. That's all" Rhys postures suggestively.

Rose is by the elevator, pounding for it to come "Lift isn't moving..."

"When they come, try to plug the hole with 'em..." Martha says with a new calm.

Toshiko cries out and Owen moves to hold her tighter "I'm starting to lose some feeling here... I think there's something in them darts they throwed at me."

"Lie still. I'm gonna give you something to counteract the…"He stands, looking around him. His bag is over by Martha. "My bag."

SHKOWW!

the bullet takes him in the belly – everything suddenly moving very slowly as he spins slightly, one foot lifted, a confused expression on his face - then speeding right back up as he slams down on his back, gasping for air.

Ianto's mouth opens in a scream he doesn't make.

Blood spreads from Owen's belly. Rose rushes to him, grabs cloth and puts pressure on the wound, puts Owen's hand on it.

"Keep pressure here..." Rose sobs.

"My bag. Need... adrenaline... and a shot of calaphar for Toshiko... I can't... Ianto...?" Owen slurs and he is by his side, takes his hand. Ianto has a kind of Serenity to him, like he understands something now. "Ianto... I'm sorry..."

"No." Ianto croons "No."

The lights go out. Everyone looks about them. Rhys fires again, but all the sound has bled out save these two.

"I hate to... leave..." Owen chokes.

"You won't. You take care of me, Owen. You've always taken care of me." Ianto croons, the he stands as the emergency lights come on, giving his face an unearthly glow as he looks down at him. "My turn."

He's running so fast, nobody has time to react til he Dives through the hole in the doors, then Owen screams his name, the scream following us back into the Black Room where Ianto lands in a perfect roll, comes up in a room full of Munchers.

Without a moment's hesitation he makes it to the panel, gets the doors closing. He dodges a blade, but a blow to the back of the head shakes him.

He weaves around a couple of Munchers to get to the closing doors, but at the last second his ankle is grabbed and pulled out from under him.

The last thing they see is him being dragged back as they swarm over him.

The Blast Doors shut with a shuddering clang.

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 **BASEMENT, OVER THE GENERATOR**

Jax gets up the chain to the platform.

The Agent is on Jax before he gets his footing, tackles him as Jax's gun goes skittering over the edge into oblivion. There is a railing here or Jax would go over as well - but he comes back with a couple of hammer blows, gets The Agent off him.

They square off, Jax stumbling back into a tool chest, knocking over tools and computer parts.

The Agent reaches behind him and pulls his sword gracefully from the holster under his armour.

Jax produces his weapon: a tiny screwdriver.

He hurls a toolbox at The Agent and rushes him, gets inside sword range and tries for the neck with the screwdriver - The Agent blocks it and works the sword point against the edge of Jax's stomach. Starts pushing slowly, despite Jax's resistance, and breaks skin.

Jax looks at The Unit Agent a moment - and the sword slides all the way through Jax's belly.

Jax's eyes go wide.

"You know what your sin is, Jaxtson?" the Agent asks softly as their noses almost touch.

Jax answers with a shaky smile "Aw hell, I'm a fan of all seven."

He headbutts The Agent viciously, then punches him so hard he staggers back, losing his grip on the sword. The Operative responds with a spin kick –Jax holds up the screwdriver and The Agent swings his foot right into it, gasping as Jax pulls the screwdriver - and leg it's stuck in - back as he rockets his fist into The Agent's chin.

The Agent goes down hard, dazed, as Jax grabs the sword still in his belly.

"But right now..." Jax groans as he pulls the sword out, grimacing. Holds it over the Operative. The smile gone. "I'm gonna have to go with Wrath."

He stabs down at his foe's face - but The Agent rolls out of the way, kicks Jax from the ground and is up in a second, grabbing Jax's sword hand - the sword drops – and punching him repeatedly in his stomach wound.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

The gang is subdued - because they are all of them injured and Owen is slipping away. Rhys looks at Martha.

"You suppose he got through?" Rhys asks her softly "Think Jax got the word out?"

Martha answers almost convincingly "He got through. I know he got through."


	22. Chapter 22

**22**

 **BASEMENT, OVER THE GENERATOR**

Jax goes down hard, spitting up blood.

He sees the sword, moves - but The Agent kicks him in the face. Picks him

up, Jax too tired to throw a decent punch.

"I'm sorry." The Agent sighs with honest remorse.

The Agent spins him and digs his bunched fingers right into the same nerve cluster that he paralyzed Tanzanaki with.

Jax goes rigid, his face a picture of pain.

The Agent goes near the railing and retrieves his sword.

Jax trembles, trying to move - but nothing happens.

"You should know there's no shame in this. You've done remarkable things. But you're fighting a war you've already lost."

He lunges – and Jax twists gracefully out of the way, grabbing The Agent's sword hand and pulling it forward - while driving his elbow into The Agent's neck with staggering force. "I'm known for that."

The Agent drops the blade, mouth open, stumbling back, unable to make a sound.

Jax spins him, grabbing both his arms and working his own through them in a twisted full nelson - then bringing his arms up suddenly, The Agent's mouth going wider as we hear his arms crack.

Jax drops him sitting against the railing, picks up his sword, saying: "Piece a shrapnel tore up that nerve cluster my first tour. Had it moved. Survived a fatal blow like that, they called me immortal."

He squats down, looks The Agent in the face. "Sorry 'bout the throat. Expect you'd wanna say your famous last words now. Just one trouble."

He reaches over the railing, pulls the back of the Operative's armour through and shoves the sword through the fabric, pinning The Agent in his sitting position.

"I ain't gonna kill you." Jax says softly as he moves to the console, starts prepping it.

"Hell, I'm gonna grant your greatest wish." He inserts the cylinder, turns it slightly. It hums to life. "I'm gonna show you a world without sin."

He hits "send all".

The cylinder lights up and the broadcast begins. Here it is projected as a two-dimensional image on the clear plastic partition, right in front of The Agent.

There are images first of the city - of bodies, on the street, in homes and offices... image after image, just as we saw on the research vessel - and in Ianto's mind.

Mary's gently voice begins to echo throughout the quadrant "These are some of the first sites we scouted on Hallett. There is no one living on this planet. There is no one..."

Jax hits the controls and a ramp extends towards the other side. He begins to cross. Never even looks back.

The Agent, trapped, watching in growing horror...

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 **BLACK ROOM**

A Muncher.

Face full of fury, he is swinging his blade in a frenzy of hate.

And a small hand smashes that face so hard that teeth fly -the Muncher flying aside to reveal:

Ianto.

He is bloodied, but not killed. he's as he was in the bar - moving faster and more efficiently than anyone can, ducking and weaving and gutting and kicking and there are piles of Munchers already, he never breaks concentration as he uses their own blades against them, throws them, does everything in his power to stay one step ahead of – or above - the mob.

He slams backwards into a wall opposite the blast doors -and a grappling hook punches through it, just missing him.

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 **BASEMENT, OVER THE GENERATOR**

The Agent watches the end of the broadcast. He watches through the clear plastic, so the images projected on it blur right before him: the Muncher, Dr. Mary - and her screaming doesn't stop til something is shoved in her mouth.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

The gang is still trying to patch themselves together when the elevator doors open. Jax staggers out, holding his bleeding side.

"Sir?" Martha gasps with fear.

"It's done." Jax barks "Report?"

Martha looks at the badly wounded Owen, is about to give a report - and the doors start to open behind her.

Everyone turns to look, those who can feebly raising weapons, as the square iris of the opening blast doors widens to reveal Ianto, standing alone.

He is holding two Muncher blades, is bloody but unbowed. And the only one alive. Then the wall behind him is ripped completely away.

Behind it, grappling hooks chained to a huge tractor pull the wall away as through the smoke come some fifteen Agency soldiers, who line up, rifles trained on our gang...

"Drop your weapons! Drop 'em now!" a soldier demands.

"Do we engage? Do we engage?" another barks into his coms with fear.

Jax and the others tense up. Ianto turns slowly to face the soldiers, blades still gripped... A soldier levels his gun at him, sweaty and frantic... others still shouting...

.

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 **BASEMENT, OVER THE GENERATOR**

The Agent sits in silence, the voices coming over his com:

Targets are acquired! Do we have a kill order? Do we have an order?

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 **BLACK ROOM**

The soldiers' fingers are squeezing at their triggers when the Agent finally manages to choke out….

"Stand down. Stand down"

 **.**

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 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **DESERT PLANET - SUNSET**

We are close on a gravestone.

It is rounded, looks more like a bell than a headstone. It is topped by a jar built unto the stone. The jar is weathered tin at top and bottom, but glass in the middle. Inside the glass we can see one of those slightly moving photos. It is of Eugene and his lovebot Gwen, and the name Eugene is carved roughly in the stone beneath.

We see another such stone, this one bearing the image and inscription: Doctor Theta.

The third is Hoban Burne. The small boy that we now know was Toshiko's ward.

The next stone houses a small home-made rocket with pieces of paper taped to it instead of a picture-jar. And fixing another slip of paper to it is Ianto.

Ianto moves away from the stone as Jax does likewise. They're flanked by the crew: Rhys, Owen, who stands holding Ianto before him and hand in hand with Toshiko. He has a crutch supporting his other side.

There is a moment, then they all move aside, saying nothing.

Between them walks Martha, in a simple white gown, holding a burning taper.

Mickey follows with a reverent look, his own robes matching that of his wife as they give thanks to the gods for surviving, even as they must farewell those who fell.

Martha stands at the stones a moment, then holds the taper to the rocket fuse. Stands back with the others.

The rocket shoots up into the darkening sky. They all watch its sputtering tail a moment, then it explodes in a series of fireworks.


	23. Chapter 23

**23**

A blowtorch spitting sparks.

Martha is harnessed to the nose of the ship, welding on a replacement for the very window the harpoon that almost impaled Mickey came through. Mickey is watching her as he flaps and yells that she will set the gorram place on fire.

Inside, Ianto works inside a crawlspace just above the engine room, replacing wires. Some of them run to a computer screen that he checks and adjusts.

Jax and Rhys hold onto the cannon as a crane is lifting it off the top of the ship.

He watches it go and here we see the whole ship for the first time, harnessed by the wings above the ground so she can be worked on all over. The cannon is being hoisted away from her as a crew of repairmen wheel new landing gear under her belly.

Toshiko, deeply greasy, tweaks a part on the engine and crosses to the back where Owen, shirtless and not entirely un-greasy himself, is wrenching a bolt into place above his head. A moment looking at him and she can't help herself - she slides her arms around his chest...

On a scaffold, Rose repaints the name on the nose with elegant precision.

Toshiko and Owen are just making out like fiends, work completely forgotten. With nothing resembling elegant precision, they sink out of frame to the floor.

A beat, and Ianto's head appears from the crawlspace above, looking down at them with detached curiosity.

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It's raining as Jax is hauling in the last of the repair equipment. His gaze suddenly moves around him, skirting the ground of the junkyard, till it lands on a figure in foreground, standing watching him from some twenty feet away.

Jax stops, doesn't turn. Hand near his gun. "If you're here to tell me we ain't finished... then we will be real quick."

The Agent stands just under the canopy of the nose of the ship, framed by the rain behind. "Do you know what an uproar you've caused? Protests, riots – cries for a recall of the entire Parliament."

"We've seen the broadwaves."

"You must be pleased." The Agent says softly.

"Verse wakes up a spell. Won't be long 'fore she rolls right over and falls back asleep. Taint my worry." Jax shrugs as he looks him in the eye.

"I can't guarantee they won't come after you. The Parliament. They have a hundred men like me and they are not forgiving." The Agents warns as he moves closer and Jax drop his hand from the gun to move onto his space.

"That don't bode especially well for you... giving the order to let us go, patching up our hurt..." Jax murmurs.

"I told them the Jones' were no longer a threat - damage done."

"They might listen, but... I think they know I'm no longer their man." The Agent shrugs and the gold brocade on his red jacket glints, even in the rain.

"They take you down John, I don't expect to grieve overmuch. Like to kill you myself, I see you again." Jax warns his once friend, back before things go complicated and Hart smiles at his childhood friend.

"You won't. There is..." John Hart opens his arms wide "nothing left to see. They are not watching either of us now."

Jax looks at him a moment, then picks up his gear to head inside. The Agent starts away into the rain, then stops to look up at the nose of the ship.

"I hope he is worth it to you" John calls after Jax, no longer pretending now the inbuilt surveillance software is disabled and he is able to acknowledge his Captain.

"You know he is, you helped me didn't you" came a soft reply.

Unseen by him, Ianto stands watching from a window, just a shadow.

Jax hits the button to close the inner doors, steps inside as they slide together. Glances back at Hart, unimpressed. "You still standing there when the engine starts, you never will figure it out."

Hart watches the door shut. A moment, and he goes.

Jax stows the gear as Martha approaches.

"What a whiner..." Jax is muttering to himself, "Always the wife."

Martha approaches with her cocky step "Sir, we have a green light. Inspection's pos and we're clear for up-thrust."

"Think she'll hold together?" Jax asks.

"She's tore up plenty. But she'll fly true" Martha nods.

A beat between them before Jax speaks "Make sure everything's secure. Could be bumpy."

"Always is." Martha laughs as she takes off and Jax heads up the stairs.

Jax comes into the hallway and runs into Rose. Rhys passes through as they talk, heading down into his bunk. Pays them no mind. Neither do Owen and Toshiko, in the dining room stowing supplies.

Martha and Mickey are in their bunk, not caring what is happening other-place as they thank the gods for sparing him and enjoy each other.

"We're taking her out. Should be about a day's ride to get you back to your girls."

"Right." She nods as she watches her brother move around her.

"You ready to get off this heap and back to a civilized life?" he asks then sees her hesitate and he stops.

"I, uh..." she shrugs "I don't know."

He looks at her, a smile in his eyes.

"Good answer." He turns and heads into the bridge.

Jax eases himself into his seat. Takes a moment to adjust one of Mickey's dashboard dinosaurs, then looks to his left. "You gonna ride shotgun, help me fly?"

Ianto is in the co-pilot's seat, looking intently at the screens and buttons. "That's the plan."

"Think you can work out how to get her in the…" Jax grins and Ianto is flipping switches without even looking, as the ship hums to life.

Her engines fire up and tilt. She lifts gently off the ground. This Ianto is self assured and calm. As if the trials and hardships have been polished away along with the vessel's.

Jax looks slightly, only slightly nonplussed. "Okay, clearly some aptitude for the... but it ain't all buttons and charts. You know what the first rule of flying is little albatross? Well, I suppose you do, since you already know what I'm about to say."

"I do Cariad. But I like to hear you say it."

Jax looks out at the rain on his windows, at his screens, taking her up as he says "Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take a boat in the air you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home."

"Well, that's one thing you can teach me" Ianto also looks out at the sky.

Jax snorts softly as he glances at the only co-pilot he wanted, his pretty boy.

"Storm's getting worse." Ianto points out as he looks out the window, oblivious to the adoration of his lover.

"We'll pass through it soon enough." Jax whispers, "We'll get there love."

As they shoot up with her through sheeting rain, towards the top of the sky.

Looking down on the storm clouds as Torchwood bursts out of them, comes at us, flared by the sun behind the planet as she passes us, her Firefly effect lighting up, about to shoot off into the heavens - There is a spark and a piece of panelling pops off, whips at the aft port camera, blacking out the frame.

"What was that?" Jax roars as Ianto's musical laughter fills the boat.

 **THE END**


End file.
